pojedynczego

Pojedynczego is the genitive singular form of the Polish adjective pojedynczy, which means single, solitary, or one. It functions to describe a noun that is in the genitive case and refers to a single unit or individual. The form appears in grammatically complex phrases such as podczas analizy pojedynczego elementu, where it marks possession or specification of one item.

In Polish, adjectives agree with the gender, number, and case of the noun they modify. For masculine personal nouns and neuter nouns in the genitive singular, the form is pojedynczego. The feminine genitive singular is pojedynczej, while the genitive plural for all genders is pojedynczych. For example: pojedynczego człowieka (of a single person), pojedynczego elementu (of a single element).

Usage and nuance: pojedynczego emphasizes that only one unit is being considered, as opposed to multiple or collective instances. It is common in technical, statistical, or descriptive writing, as well as in legal or scholarly Polish, where precise quantity or identification is important. In everyday language, the more general form pojedynczy is often sufficient, but when required by syntax or emphasis, pojedynczego correctly marks the genitive singular.

Etymology: pojedynczego derives from the adjective pojedynczy, built from the prefix po- and the root related to jeden (one), conveying the sense of “single” or “one by one.”

See also: pojedynczy, pojedynczo, liczebnik jeden.