neulich

Neulich is a German adverb meaning recently or lately. It is commonly used in colloquial speech across German-speaking regions and in informal writing to refer to an event that happened not long ago.

Etymology: The word is formed from neu (new) with the adverbial suffix -lich, creating a sense of something newly remembered or recent in time. The usage developed in everyday language to denote events in the near past.

Usage: In main clauses neulich often precedes the verb or appears at the start of the sentence. For example: Ich habe neulich einen Film gesehen. Neulich hat er mir davon erzählt. In formal writing or careful narration, kürzlich or vor Kurzem are typically preferred, but neulich remains widely understood and common in spoken German.

Nuance and tone: Neulich carries a conversational, anecdotal tone and tends to signal that the speaker is recalling information from memory for a story or anecdote. It is less formal than kürzlich and is most natural in everyday conversation. Pronunciation is typically given as [ˈnɔɪlɪç]. Related synonyms include kürzlich, vor Kurzem, and in some contexts simply recently.