To say hello in Russian, use the informal Привет (Privet) for friends or the formal Здравствуйте (Zdravstvuyte) for strangers or in professional settings, with time-specific options like Доброе утро (Dobroye utro - Good morning), Добрый день (Dobry den - Good afternoon), or Добрый вечер (Dobry vecher - Good evening) also common.
Simple Russian greetings
– Kak dela? (informal) – How are you?
Привет, Ольга! Как дела? (Hi, Olga!
Привет means "hi." It's much more informal than Здравствуйте, and it's better to avoid this word at first meeting, with elders, or in formal situations. However, it's common to greet each other with Привет! in the nightclubs, at parties, or at other informal gatherings even if you see each other for the first time.
A lighter version is “Пока-пока!” (paka-paka). It appeared in the 90s of the last century under the influence of English “Bye-bye!” Pronounce it like [пак̀а / pak̀a]. The English equivalent is “Bye!
Now that you've learned how to greet someone informally, let's check out some of the most common formal greetings in English.
The Russian word for Yes is Да (da). Let's check out this lesson on the Yes in Russian. You can certainly use other words to express your agreement.
To say 1-8 in Russian, you say один (odin), два (dva), три (tri), четыре (chetyre), пять (pyat'), шесть (shest'), семь (sem'), восемь (vosem'), with pronunciations like "ah-DEEN," "DVAH," "TREE," "chye-TYRY," "PYAT," "SHYEST," "SYEM," and "VOH-syem," respectively.
The word DOBRO in Russian encompasses all that is positive and good, the very opposite of evil.
золото - Translation from Russian into English - LearnWithOliver. Imperfective: золото (zóloto) Gender: (n) English Meaning: gold.
Essential Russian Phrases
Yes – Да (da) No – Нет (nyet) Please – Пожалуйста (poZHAlusta) Thank you – Спасибо (spaSIbo) You're welcome. –
The 7-letter Russian spelling rule states that after the consonants г, к, х, ж, ч, ш, щ, you never write the vowel Ы, but instead use И, even if the sound is hard (like in жизнь - life). This also applies to other vowels: after these seven letters, never write Ю, use У (e.g., чуть), and never write Я, use А (e.g., часто), a principle often extended to include the letter Ц in broader rules. This rule ensures consistency with phonetic shifts after these specific "hard" or "hissing" consonants, helping learners avoid common mistakes in endings.
Два раза, три раза and so on. So when we say raz, dva, tri it basically means one time, two times, three times. But som people use it even for counting stuff, which is wrong. But I guess it's easier to say raz, then odin. This is how it works in Russian at least.
Key Takeaways. Спасибо (spaSEEbah) is the most common way to say thank you in Russian. Different words for thank you are used depending on how formal the situation is. Благодарю (blagadaRYU) is often used by older people and sometimes in an ironic way by younger people.
Yes, "blyat" (блядь) is a strong Russian swear word, essentially meaning "whore" or "bitch," but used more broadly as an exclamation of frustration, similar to the English "fuck" or "damn," and is considered very vulgar and offensive, especially among native speakers. While it has a literal meaning, it's often used as a versatile expletive in online gaming and informal contexts, but foreigners using it can seem ignorant or annoying to Russians.
In Russian, "paka" (пока) is an informal way to say "bye" or "bye-bye," often used with friends, family, or young people, similar to English casual farewells, and saying it twice ("paka paka") just makes it more informal and friendly, like "bye-bye". It's a shortened form of "poka," which literally means "while," but in farewells, it means "until [we meet]" or "bye".
Flirty texts to start a conversation