nuž
Well Then: Nuž
Nuž works like English "well" at the start of a sentence: it links your words to what was said or what happened before. It often goes with tak, teda or ale: nuž tak, nuž teda, nuž dobre.
How It Works
What nuž does. The Short Dictionary of Slovak (KSSJ) describes nuž as a particle that connects a sentence to the context or situation, or that urges someone on:
- reaction or acceptance: Nuž dobre. (Well, all right.) Nuž, čo narobíme. (Well, what can we do.)
- urging: Nuž, poďme! (Well then, let's go!) Nuž, začnime! (Well then, let's begin!)
- in combinations: nuž tak, nuž teda, nuž veď, nuž ale
KSSJ also lists nuž as a conjunction meaning (a) tak, so: Pršalo, nuž sme ostali doma. (It was raining, so we stayed at home.) This use sounds folksy.
Style. Nuž sounds like a storyteller, an older speaker or a formal speech. In everyday conversation people say no, tak or teda: No dobre. Tak poďme.
Not the adverb "well". Nuž only matches the English conversation word "well". For "well" meaning "in a good way", use dobre.
Examples (5)
- Nuž, čo narobíme.
Well, what can we do.
Word by Word: Well, what we-will-do.
- Nuž dobre, pôjdem s tebou.
Well, all right, I'll go with you.
Word by Word: Well good, I-will-go with you.
- Nuž, poďme!
Well then, let's go!
Word by Word: Well, let's-go!
- Nuž teda, začnime.
Well then, let's begin.
Word by Word: Well then, let's-begin.
- Pršalo, nuž sme ostali doma.
It was raining, so we stayed at home.
Word by Word: It-rained, so we-are stayed at-home.
Here nuž works as a conjunction meaning so.
Common Mistakes
Using nuž for the adverb "well".
Hovorí nuž po slovensky.Hovorí dobre po slovensky.Nuž only matches the conversation word "well" at the start of a remark. "Well" meaning "in a good way" is dobre.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Before Well Then: nuž, learn So and That Is. nuž introduces a conclusion, like teda.
Related Patterns
- veď / predsaEmphatic Veď and Predsa
Other particles that link a remark to the situation; nuž veď combines them.
Level 4 - preto / takSo and Therefore
Tak is the neutral "so" that nuž replaces in folksy speech.
Level 3 - avšak / noHowever: Avšak and No
That entry teaches no as "but"; the same short word no is also the everyday conversational "well" that replaces nuž.
Level 5
Words in This Pattern
Practice nuž in Bubblegum
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