нельзя
Definitions
- 1.it is impossible (perfective aspect), one cannot, you can't
нельзя́ ему́ + perfective infinitive
nelʹzjá jemú + perfective infinitive — it is impossible for him to (perfective infinitive)
- 2.it is prohibited (imperfective aspect), it is forbidden, it is not allowed, one must not
здесь нельзя́ кури́ть
zdesʹ nelʹzjá kurítʹ — it is not allowed to smoke here
- 3.one cannot
нельзя́ не заме́тить, что он влюби́лся в неё
nelʹzjá ne zamétitʹ, što on vljubílsja v nejó — One cannot fail to notice that he has fallen in love with her
- 4.not an option
Проиграть нельзя́.
Proigratʹ nelʹzjá. — Losing is not an option.
Synonyms & related words
- доне́льзя
- невозмо́жно
- запрещено́
- мо́жно
Etymology
From не (ne) + льзя (lʹzja), from Old East Slavic нельзѣ (nelĭzě), нельзѧ (nelĭzę), нельза (nelĭza), from Proto-Slavic *ne / *ně + *lьga (“possibility”) (possibly influenced by its dative *lьdzě), likely related to *lьgъkъ (whence лёгкий (ljóxkij, “light, easy”)). Compare Ukrainian не́льга (nélʹha), нільга́ (nilʹhá), нельзя́ (nelʹzjá), Belarusian няльга́ (njalʹhá), нільга́ (nilʹhá), не́льга (njélʹha), Old Church Slavonic льзѣ (lĭzě, “possible, possibly”), Slovak nelza, nelzä, neľzä, Old Polish nielza, also modern Slovene lahko (“may, be allowed”)
Forms
- нельзя́canonical
- nelʹzjáromanization