Resultado exclusivo no sql query

como selecionar único elemento em sql

DISTINCT
- select distinct * from employees; ==> 
  retrieves any row if it has at
  least a single unique column.

- select distinct first_name from employees; ==> 
      retrieves unique names
     from table. (removes duplicates)
     
- select distinct count(*) from employees;
     retrieve number of unique rows
     if any row has at least a single unique data.