In Russian, how you say «hello» depends on who you're talking to. With friends and family you use one word; with strangers, older people or in a formal setting, you use another. In this article you'll see the most common greetings, how to say goodbye, how to tell someone your name and how to ask «how are you?».
Informal and formal «you»: ты and вы
Before the greetings, one important thing: Russian has two ways to say «you».
If in doubt, use вы [vih]. It's the right choice with strangers, older people and whenever you talk to two or more people.
How to say «hi» and «bye»
These are the four words you'll hear every day:
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening
These phrases work with both ты and вы. Note that Russian has two different «good nights».
You arrive at a party at 9 pm: До́брый ве́чер! Your brother is going to bed: Споко́йной но́чи!
How to say your name
After «hi», we say our name. This is the phrase:
Put your own name instead of «Ма́ша». To ask the other person's name:
How to ask «how are you?»
To answer, choose how you are:
| Russian | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Отли́чно! | [otlíchno!] | Great! |
| Хорошо́. | [khoroshó.] | Good. |
| Норма́льно. | [normál'no.] | Fine. |
| Так себе́. | [tak sebé.] | So-so. |
| Пло́хо. | [plókho.] | Bad. |
After you answer, say thanks and ask back: Спаси́бо! [spasíbo!] — Thank you! — and А у тебя́? [a oo tebyá?] — And you? With вы: А у вас? [a oo vas?]
More ways to say goodbye
▶ These phrases are in lesson 1 of the «Russian from Zero» course on YouTube, with pronunciation: watch the video lesson on the Russian with Katya channel.
Learn Russian from zero with the course book
32 lessons with step-by-step theory, dialogues, reading texts, exercises with answers and a course dictionary. Every lesson has a video lesson on YouTube.