ნელა
“ნელა” (nela) — slowly in Georgian. Adverb, level A0, topic — phrases that save you. From neli, slow. The word of your first weeks: nela, tu sheidzleba — slowly, please. In a live sentence: “ნელა ილაპარაკეთ, თუ შეიძლება” — Speak slowly, please. You can hear how it sounds right here. Written with the characters ნ, ე, ლ, ა. One of 16 words in the set “phrases that save you” in the Georgian course.
In short
| Written in Georgian | ნელა |
| Read in Latin letters | nela |
| Translation | slowly |
| Part of speech | adverb |
| Level | A0 |
- ნელაnelaslowly
Why it looks that way
From neli, slow. The word of your first weeks: nela, tu sheidzleba — slowly, please
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ნელა ილაპარაკეთ, თუ შეიძლებაnela ilaparaket, tu sheidzlebaSpeak slowly, please
Nearby words: phrases that save you
“I don't understand”, “say that again”, “slower, please”, “help”. They are learned first for a reason: they bring back a conversation that has already gone wrong.
- ვერ გავიგეver gavigeI don't understandBuilt on the past tense, literally 'I could not understand' — said exactly where English says 'I don't understand'. Ver is a special 'not': couldn't rather than wouldn't
- გაიმეორეთgaimeoretplease repeatOne Georgian word covers the whole request: the -t on the end already carries the politeness, no 'please' needed
- ინგლისურად ლაპარაკობთ?inglisurad laparakobt?do you speak English?Literally 'Englishly do-you-speak?'. The -ad ending marks the language: it turns the language name into an adverb
- დახმარებაdakhmarebahelpDamekhmaret means 'help me' — the appeal is already built into the verb
- დავიკარგეdavikargeI am lostOne word for the whole English phrase: the prefix da- plus v- (I) in the past tense about oneself
- ერთი წუთით მოიცადეთerti tsutit moitsadetwait a minuteTsuti is minute, -ith is the instrumental: 'wait with one minute'
- კარს ვერ ვაღებkars ver vaghebI can't open itVer is 'could not', not 'did not want': the same ver as in ver gavige
- სასწრაფო დახმარებაsastsrapo dakhmarebaambulancesastsrapo is urgent, from stsrapli, fast; dakhmareba is already familiar. In speech they simply say sastsrapo
- ექიმი მჭირდებაekimi mchirdebaI need a doctorThe same mchirdeba as in ar mchirdeba, only without the negation
- ფრთხილადprtkhiladcareful!four consonants in a row: p-r-t-kh, no vowel between them, all said in one push: prtkhi-lad
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “phrases that save you”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “slowly” in Georgian?
From neli, slow. The word of your first weeks: nela, tu sheidzleba — slowly, please
- How do you say “I can't open it” in Georgian?
Ver is 'could not', not 'did not want': the same ver as in ver gavige
- How do you say “do you speak English?” in Georgian?
Literally 'Englishly do-you-speak?'. The -ad ending marks the language: it turns the language name into an adverb
- How do you say “careful!” in Georgian?
prt khilad iqavi — be careful. Heard constantly on building sites and in minibuses
- How do you say “wait a minute” in Georgian?
Tsuti is minute, -ith is the instrumental: 'wait with one minute'
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “slowly” in Georgian?
«ნელა», read “nela”. In a live sentence: “ნელა ილაპარაკეთ, თუ შეიძლება” — Speak slowly, please. You can hear how it sounds right on this page. Adverb, level A0, from the set “phrases that save you”; written with the characters ნ, ე, ლ, ა.
How is “ნელა” written in Latin letters?
nela. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
From neli, slow. The word of your first weeks: nela, tu sheidzleba — slowly, please. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
Can I hear how it sounds?
Yes, right on this page: click the word and it will play. The sound works on any phone, and nothing needs to be installed.