nendo wo yukkuri koneru.

It is read ねんど.

In this sentence, 粘土 means clay. Be careful not to confuse it with other words that are also read ねんど in different contexts, such as 年度 meaning fiscal year / academic year.

を marks 粘土 as the direct object of the verb.

So in 粘土をこねる, the clay is the thing being kneaded.

A simple breakdown is:

• 粘土 = clay
• を = object marker
• こねる = to knead

So 粘土をこねる means to knead the clay.

Here, ゆっくり is being used adverbially, meaning it describes how the action is done.

So it modifies こねる and means something like:

• slowly
• at a slow pace
• sometimes gently, depending on context

In this sentence, ゆっくり tells you the manner of kneading.

Because ゆっくり is already commonly used as an adverb by itself.

You can say:

• ゆっくり歩く = walk slowly
• ゆっくり話す = speak slowly
• ゆっくりこねる = knead slowly

You may also see ゆっくりと, which is a slightly more explicitly adverbial form:

• 粘土をゆっくりとこねる

That sounds a bit more formal or descriptive, but the meaning is very similar.

こねる is the dictionary form of the verb, which is also the plain non-past form.

In Japanese, this form can mean:

• knead
• kneads
• will knead

depending on context.

A short sentence like this might appear in:

• a dictionary example
• instructions
• a textbook
• a caption describing an action

So it does not have to mean only present tense in the English sense.

こねる is an ichidan verb.

That means it conjugates like this:

• dictionary form: こねる
• polite form: こねます
• te-form: こねて
• past: こねた
• negative: こねない

This is useful if you want to build other sentences, such as:

• 粘土をこねます。 = I knead / will knead the clay.
• 粘土をこねてください。 = Please knead the clay.

Japanese sentences usually put the main verb at the end.

So the order here is:

• 粘土 = object
• を = object marker
• ゆっくり = adverb
• こねる = verb

A very common Japanese pattern is:

object + adverb + verb

This is different from English, where word order is more fixed.

Yes, adverbs in Japanese are fairly flexible, as long as the sentence still sounds natural.

For example, these are all understandable:

• 粘土をゆっくりこねる。
• ゆっくり粘土をこねる。

The first one is probably the most straightforward and natural in a basic example sentence.

Even when adverbs move around, the verb usually still stays at the end.

Japanese often omits the subject when it is understood from context.

So 粘土をゆっくりこねる。 could mean:

• I knead the clay slowly.
• She kneads the clay slowly.
• Knead the clay slowly.
• or just a general description: knead the clay slowly

The exact subject depends on the situation. This is very normal in Japanese.

In a full, neutral sentence like this, を is normally kept.

So:

• 粘土をゆっくりこねる。 = natural

If you drop を, it can sound incomplete or unusually casual unless the context strongly supports it.

Japanese does sometimes omit particles in casual speech, but learners should usually keep を here.

Its core meaning is slowly or in a relaxed/unhurried way.

But in real contexts, English translations may sometimes use:

• slowly
• gently
• carefully

For kneading clay, ゆっくり mainly suggests that the action is being done at a slow pace, though that may also imply gentleness.

So the exact English wording can change a little depending on the context, even though the Japanese stays the same.