propriului

Propriului is a grammatical form of the Romanian adjective propriu, meaning “one’s own” or “belonging to oneself.” It is the genitive and dative singular masculine or neuter form, used when the modified noun is in an oblique case and the noun phrase expresses ownership or association. The form reflects Romanian’s system of noun–adjective agreement and the separate definite/in-definite endings that appear in genitive and dative contexts.

Etymology and related forms: Propriu derives from Latin proprius, meaning “one’s own” or “distinct.” In Romanian, the adjective inflects for gender and number, producing a family of forms such as propriu, proprie, proprii, and their definite variants. Propriului specifically marks masculine or neuter singular in the genitive/dative. Feminine and plural forms differ (for example, propriei in feminine genitive/dative and propriilor in plural), though exact forms vary with the syntactic position and the noun they modify.

Usage: Propriului appears primarily in written, formal, or historical Romanian and in legal or bureaucratic language, where possession or personal ownership is stated without repeating the possessor. In everyday speech, speakers may opt for less marked constructions (such as combinations using possessive pronouns or simpler adjectives) depending on register and context. The choice of form depends on the noun’s gender, number, and case, as well as the overall syntactic arrangement.

See also: propriu, propriu-zis, possessive adjectives, Romanian grammar.

Note: Romanian morphology includes multiple inflected forms for propriu across gender, number, and case; propriu’s genitive/dative singular masculine or neuter form is propriului, with feminine and plural variants existing for other contexts.