"Ona potrzebuje mężczyzny."
Translation:She needs a man.
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This is some information that 4d1n gave me:
In Polish we have 7 cases. I'll try to explain them using word "kot" (a cat).
"Mianownik" (Nominative) - Main case, used when we are naming something. "Jego kot jest czarny" - His cat is black. "Koty liżą masło" - Cats lick butter.
"Dopełniacz" (Genitive) - Case with really wide usage. 1) Describing possesion, 2) Using negations, 3) With some verbs. "To zabawka jej kota" - This is her cat's toy. "To nie jest wina kotów" - That's not cats fault.
"Celownik" (Dative) - Case used when describing aim of the activity, or for indirect objects. "Daję jeść kotu" - I'm feeding a cat. "Pomagamy kotom" - We are helping cats.
"Biernik" (Accusative) - Case used for direct objects. "Znalazłem kota" - I found a cat. "Widzę koty" - I see cats.
"Narzędnik" (Instrumental) - If something is an instrument of an activity, way which led for result, you should use that case. "Idę z kotem do weterynarza" - I'm going to the vet with my cat. "Psy nie lubią się z kotami" - Dogs and cats don't like each other.
"Miejscownik" (Locative) - Always with preposition. Used for describing location of an action, or when you are thinking about something. "Myślę o kocie" - I'm thinking about a cat. "Anioły żyją w kotach" - Angels are living in cats.
"Wołacz" (Vocative) - Very rare case. Used only for calling something. "O kocie, czemu to zrobiłeś" - Oh cat, why have you done that. "O wielkie koty" - Oh grand cats.
list of some of the more common verbs that take the genitive case:
bać się - to be afraid
brakować/ braknąć - to be missing, to be insufficient
chcieć - to want
dokonywać/ dokonać - to achieve
domagać się - to demand
dotyczyć - to apply to
dotykać/ dotknąć - to be touching/ to touch
doznawać/ doznać - to experience, to feel
lękać się, obawiać się - to be afraid
oczekiwać - to wait for
odmawiać/ odmówić - to refuse
pilnować - to guard
potrzebować - to need
pragnąć - to desire
próbować/ spróbować - to be trying/ to try
słuchać - to listen
spodziewać się - to expect
szukać/ poszukać - to look for
uczyć się/ nauczyć się - to study/to learn
udzielać/ udzielić - to grant
unikać/ uniknąć - to avoid
używać/ użyć - to be using/ to use
wymagać - to demand
wstydzić się - to be embarrassed
wystarczać/ wystarczyć - to be sufficient
zabraniać/ zabronić, zakazywać/ zakazać - to forbid
zapominać/ zapomnieć - to forget
zazdrościć - to envy
żałować - to regret
życzyć - to wish
Nope, nothing to do with negation this time.
There are various times (9) when the genitive is used (quoting from a grammar book, referenced below)
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To express almost all senses of "of", including possession.
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For the object of certain prepositions, including do to, bez without, dla for, z from, out of, od from, and u at a person’s place.
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For the object of negated transitive verbs.
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For the complement of the negative existential constructions nie ma there isn’t, nie było there wasn’t, and nie bdzie there won’t be.
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For the object of certain verbs, for example, "szuka" look for
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For nouns in quantities of five or more (gen.pl.)."
...and three more !!
Swan, Oscar (2008-10-12). Polish Verbs & Essentials of Grammar, Second Edition
You were asking about situation #3, this is in fact situation #5, where "potrebować" happens to be one of those verbs. There are lists of these verbs on the internet, somebody even put one up in the comments for a previous question in this exercise. Hope that helped and sorry, no punchline lol