The most important thing you need to know in Russian is how to say Hello in Russian, because any greeting immediately makes you sound polite and provides a good first impression of you. There are a lot of greeting words in Russian that are used in different ways depending on the time of the day and the people you talk to.

In this article, we will teach you how to say Hello correctly, and we will start by learning a few Russian phrases that are necessary in most situations where you need to greet a person or several people.

• Здравствуй! (Zdravstvuj, Zdrah-stvooy; Hello).

Most often we use this greeting to greet a person with whom communicate informally.

• Здравствуйте! (Zdravstvujtye, Zdrah-stvooy-tee; Hello).

Most often we use this greeting to greet a person with whom communicate formally. You can also use this greeting when addressing two or more people, even if they are children, family members or close friends.

Pay attention that when you pronounce the words “Здравствуй” and “Здравствуйте” the first letter “в” (“v”) is silent. Otherwise it would be really hard to pronounce!

• Привет! (Privyet, Pree-vyet; Hello, Hi)

This is the informal way of greeting and you should know a person really well before you start greeting them in this way.

Saying Hello at a different time of the day

• Доброе утро! (Dobroye utro, Dohb-ruh-ee oo-truh) Good morning!

Russians say it in the morning before noon.

• Добрый день! (Dobryj dyen’, Dohb-rihy dyen’) Good afternoon!

You can use this greeting for the most part of the day, except early in the morning or late in the evening.

• Добрый вечер! (Dobryj vyechyer, Dohb–rihy vye-cheer) Good evening!

This greeting you use in the evening.

You can also use all of these expressions without having to think about whether or not to address the person you are greeting to “You” (“Ty”) or “You” (“Vy”). No matter who you greet, you can safely use any of these phrases.

The address “Как дела?”

Russians are used to answering the question “как дела?” in a lot of details:

• Как дела? (Kak dyela? Kahk dee-lah?) How are you?

You can use this phrase when you are at a party, or event, or when you meet a friend or several friends, as well as when talk on the phone.

• Как вы поживаете? (Kak vy pozhivayetye? Kahk vih puh-zhih-vah-ee-tee?) How are you?

This is a formal way of address. You can use this phrase when you talk to your boss, professor, or to a person who is older than you, or the one you have just met.

How to say Goodbye to a person?

• До свидания! (Do svidaniya! Duh svee-dah-nee-ye! Goodbye!)

This is an excellent way to say goodbye in any situation, which literally means goodbye ” until our next date”.

• Пока! (Poka! Pah-kah! Bye or See you later).

You can say “пока” only to a person who you know really well.

The phrase that you can use in the evening or before you go to bed:

• Спокойной ночи! (Spokojnoj nochi! Spah-kohy-nuhy noh-chee; Good night!).

This phrase works well in both formal and informal situations.

Now, with the help of our article, you know how to say Hello or Goodbye to a Russian person or several people in different situations. We will be glad if this article helps you in further learning Russian!