What are the differences in usage and meaning between 천천하다 and 느리다 meaning 'slow'?

Question

I was in the supermarket just now and the till was responding very slowly (i.e. there was a long wait for the prices to come up after the item was scanned). I remarked, "천천하지", but that felt wrong to me - but a native Korean confirmed that 느리지 was more appropriate. But why is this? Is it because 느리다 is more appropriate for talking about a long *wait*, rather than literal motion? Or is it more appropriate for an exclamatory observation than 천천하다? In general, what are the differences in usage and meaning between 천천하다 and 느리다?

Answer 1

I would use recommend using 천천히 as a direct command or verb. For example, if I wanted to tell someone to slow down, I would tell them "천천히해".

On the other hand, I would use 느리다 as an adjective/describing word. For example, in the context of the long line, you would want to use 느리다 to describe how long the line was.

Hope that helped!

Answer 2

Great question

Moving 천천하다 is usually on purpose, or by design. For example, when you drive in a school zone, you go 천천히. Other examples include climbing slowly and carefully, eating slowly to avoid indigestion, etc. On the other hand, 느리다 is typically involuntary. Someone with a broken foot is very 느린. Other examples would be a turtle, or a slow-moving river. Often, these things are naturally slow.