trzeciej

Trzeciej is a grammatical form in Polish, the feminine singular declined form of the ordinal numeral trzeci, meaning "third." It is used before feminine nouns and commonly appears in genitive, dative, or locative cases. In practice this form marks agreement with a feminine noun in phrases such as "trzeciej części" (the third part; genitive singular), "trzeciej osobie" (to/for the third person; dative singular), and "w trzeciej kolejce" (in the third queue/round; locative singular).

The form is part of the broader system of Polish ordinal numerals, which decline to reflect gender and case. For masculine nouns the form is "trzeci," and for neuter nouns it is "trzecie." The feminine form "trzeciej" thus serves gender-sensitive agreement in contexts where the noun is feminine and requires one of the cases mentioned above.

Etymology and typology: "trzeciej" derives from the base adjective "trzeci," itself from the Proto-Slavic root for the ordinal "third." In Polish, ordinals behave like adjectives, agreeing with the gender, number, and case of the noun they modify. The feminine genitive/dative/locative singular ending "-ej" is realized as "trzeciej" in standard usage.

Usage notes: Because "trzeciej" is specifically the feminine singular form, it does not appear with masculine or neuter nouns, which use "trzeci" or "trzecie" respectively. It is a common component in written and formal Polish, especially in descriptions, instructions, and narrative passages that require precise grammatical agreement.

See also: trzeci, liczebnik porządkowy, odmiana przymiotników liczebnikowych.