Knowing how to be polite in Russian is essential for any Russian language learner. After today’s lesson, you’ll be able to say "thank you," "excuse me," "sorry," and use other polite Russian expressions with confidence.
Listen carefully to the pronunciation and practice saying the Russian phrases aloud – you’ll have these mastered in no time!
Resources for further reading:
Let's start with learning how to say thank you in Russian.
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!
спасибо
spaseeba
Thank you
In Russian “excuse me” and “sorry” is the same word which comes in two forms: Извините (Izvineeti) and Извини (Izvinee). If you want to say “excuse me” or “sorry” to a person you don’t know or to an older person or to more than one person you need to say:
Извините, пожалуйста
Izvineeti, pazhalusta
Excuse me please / I'm sorry
If you address a friend or a child, use:
Извини, пожалуйста
Izvinee pazhalusta
Excuse me please / I'm sorry (informal)
You can drop the word “please” and simply say:
Извините
Izvineeti
Excuse me / sorry
Извини
Izvinee
Excuse me / sorry (informal)
Спасибо за помощь
Spaseeba za pomashch
Thanks for your help
Большое спасибо
Bal’shoe spaseeba
Thanks a lot
Пожалуйста
Pazhalusta
You're welcome
Не стоит
Ni stoit
It's nothing / no need to (thank me for this)
Вы очень добры
Vy ochin’ dabry
It's very kind of you (formal)
Whether you are traveling to a Russian speaking country or simply interacting with Russian speakers, acting in a courteous way will win you friends and gain you respect.
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!