Learn how to use some common Russian greetings
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| Привет всем! С Вами Светлана. Hi everybody! I’m Svetlana. Welcome to RussianPod101.com’s Русский язык за три минуты. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Russian. |
| In the last lesson, we learned how to express gratitude with Спасибо. In this lesson we’ll learn some of the most common greetings you’ll use in Russia. |
| Готовы? Are you ready? Поехали! Let’s start! |
| The most used informal greeting is: |
| Привет! |
| [slowly] Привет. |
| Привет means “hi” or “hello”. We use this greeting when we meet friends, cousins, or close relatives. Please keep in mind that it is a very informal greeting. If you are not close to someone, or if he or she is older than you, you should not use this word. |
| Here is a more formal way to greet people. |
| Здравствуйте |
| [slowly] Здравствуйте. |
| This is a very formal greeting that can be used at any time of day. As a variation, Здравствуй can also be used. This is a still a little casual, but much more formal than привет. Здравствуй is actually a variation of здрава желаю, meaning “I wish [you] health”. So Здравствуй literally means “I wish you to be healthy”. (slowly) Здравствуй |
| Russian also has equivalents to the English “Good morning”, “Good afternoon”, and “Good evening”. They are “Доброе утро, добрый день, добрый вечер”. They are similar to здравствуйте in politeness and formality. However, remember to use them at the proper time depending on whether it is morning, afternoon, or evening. |
| Доброе утро, which means “good morning”, is usually used before 12 p.m. |
| [slowly] Доброе утро |
| The word “Добрый” means “kind”. Russians don't say 'Good Morning' - they say 'Kind Morning'. |
| The word “утро” means “morning”. |
| So literally this phrase means “Kind morning to you”. |
| Very sweet! |
| “добрый день” can either mean “good afternoon” or “good day”. Since the word здравствуйте can be used at any time of the day, you will hear it more than добрый день, but it’s still a phrase you should learn! |
| [slowly] добрый день |
| The final greeting is “ добрый вечер”, and we usually use it after 6 p.m. The word “вечер” literally means “evening”. “Kind evening to you” |
| [slowly] добрый вечер |
| Very easy, right? |
| The usual way to say goodbye in almost any situation is До свидания! which literally means "Till (the next) meeting." |
| [slowly] До свидания! |
| If you're on casual terms with somebody, you may also say Пока, which means “bye” or “see you later”. |
| [slowly] Пока |
| The phrase you use when leaving someone in the evening or just before bed is Спокойной ночи.This phrase works both for formal and informal situations. |
| [slowly] Спокойной ночи |
| You can now greet people in many different ways in Russia! Congratulations! |
| Now it’s time for Svetlana’s Tip. |
| As I mentioned in our first lesson, Russians commonly greet each other by shaking hands or slightly nodding the head . What I want to add to this is that Russians are very superstitious people, so we never shake hands over the threshold between rooms. It is considered to be unlucky. So always go into the room first before shaking hands. Women usually kiss each other on the cheek three times, starting with the left cheek. Men hug and pat each other’s backs. |
| In the next lesson we’ll learn the meaning of the phrase Извините, вы говорите по-английски? Do you already know it? I'll be waiting to tell you about it in our next Русский за три минуты |
| Пока пока! See you! |
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