How many ways can you say "hello" in Russian? After this lesson you’ll know more than just a simple привет!
Listen to the audio and follow the pronunciation. And don't be shy - go ahead and practice each Russian word aloud!
The most common way to greet anyone in Russian is Здравствуйте (zdrastvuite). It is safe to use in all occasions and addressing all people. The origin of this greeting goes back to the verb ‘to be healthy and well’. So, by saying Здравствуйте! (zdrastvuite) to people you do not just greet them but also wish them to be healthy and well!
Resources for further reading:
Depending on the time of the day people might also say Доброе утро (dobrae ootra) in the morning, Добрый день (dobryi den’) during the day, or Добрый вечер (dobryi vechir) in the evening.
Привет! (privet) is a well-known phrase for greeting a friend, but Russians might also use Здравствуй! (zdrastvui), which is a shorter and informal version of Здравствуйте, or even Здорово! (zdarova) - a greeting normally used between male friends.
Shaking hands is only common between people who know each other very well or during very formal occasions. Kissing on the cheeks or hugging is not customary and is reserved for your close family. (The former Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev was often seen in the media kissing and hugging, but even Russian people used to make jokes about it because it was so unusual – we strongly advise against this practice!)
Rocket Record lets you perfect your Russian pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!
Здравствуйте
Zdrastvuite
Hello
Доброе утро
Dobrae ootra
Good morning
Добрый день
Dobryi den’
Good afternoon
Добрый вечер
Dobryi vechir
Good evening
Спокойной ночи
Spakoinai nochi
Good night
Спокойной ночи is only said when people are going to bed. It means ‘have a quiet night’ or ‘sleep well.’ It is not used as a general greeting like the English ‘Good night!’ when parting after a night out.
Алло
Allo
Hello (on the telephone)
Привет
Privet
Hi
Как дела?
Kak dila?
How are you?
Using different greetings will make you sound more fluent, so try to remember as many as you can. That’s it for today’s lesson.
If you want more lessons on Russian salutations then I recommend that you check out the following:
До скорого! (da skorava)
Natalya Dubrov: Rocket Russian
Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!