how to pronounce нельзя

/nʲɪlʲˈzʲa/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of нельзя is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

нельзя is pronounced in two syllables

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1.

nʲ

lʲ

2.

zʲ

example pitch curve for pronunciation of нельзя

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video examples of нельзя pronunciation

An example use of нельзя in a speech by a native speaker of standard russian:

“… 20 20 кстати их нельзя купить отдельном …”

meanings of нельзя

adjective:

One cannot.
It is impossible (perfective aspect), one cannot, you can't.
It is prohibited (imperfective aspect), it is forbidden, it is not allowed, one must not.

нельзя frequency in russian - A1 level of CEFR

the word нельзя occurs in russian on average 214.6 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for A1 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.