We derive slow-roll conditions for thawing quintessence .
We solve the equation of motion of \phi for a Taylor expanded potential ( up to the quadratic order ) in the limit where the equation of state w is close to -1 to derive the equation of state as a function of the scale factor .
We find that the evolution of \phi and hence w are described by only two parameters .
The expression for w ( a ) , which can be applied to general thawing models , coincides precisely with that derived recently by Dutta and Scherrer for hilltop quintessence .
The consistency conditions of |w + 1 | \ll 1 are derived .
The slow-roll conditions for freezing quintessence are also derived .