Greetings and Polite Phrases in Russian

In Brief

Use Здравствуйте for a safe, polite “hello” and Привет with friends and other people you address informally. Спасибо means “thank you,” пожалуйста means both “please” and “you’re welcome,” and извините politely gets someone’s attention or expresses an apology. For leave-taking, choose neutral До свидания or informal Пока.

Overview

Greetings are among the first Russian expressions worth learning because they let you begin and end an interaction appropriately even before you can build long sentences. At A1, the key is not grammar but register: the level of formality you choose for a particular person and situation. Russian makes a clearer distinction between formal and informal interaction than modern English usually does.

A useful beginner strategy is to learn expressions as complete units. You do not need to analyze the internal grammar of до свидания or conjugate the verb behind извините before using them. What matters first is knowing which expression fits: Привет! for a friend, but Здравствуйте! for a stranger, customer, official, older person, or anyone with whom you have not established an informal relationship.

These phrases also work in short exchanges rather than in isolation. A greeting may be followed by Как дела? (“How are things?”), thanks normally invite a reply, and an apology can be acknowledged. Learning both sides of each exchange makes your Russian sound more natural and helps you understand what comes back to you.

How It Works

Saying hello

Russian offers several everyday greetings. The safest choice depends mainly on your relationship with the listener and, for some greetings, the time of day.

Russian	Basic meaning	Typical use
Здравствуйте!	Hello!	Polite; one person or several people
Привет!	Hi!	Informal; friends, family, children, close peers
Доброе утро!	Good morning!	Morning greeting
Добрый день!	Good afternoon! / Hello!	Daytime; neutral and polite
Добрый вечер!	Good evening!	Evening; neutral and polite

Здравствуйте is pronounced with a difficult consonant cluster, and in ordinary speech the first в is often not clearly heard: roughly ZDRA-stvooy-tye. You should still spell the word здравствуйте. Do not let its length discourage you: it is one of the most useful words in Russian.

Привет is warm and common, but it is not a universal replacement for English “hi.” English speakers often use “hi” with shop staff, teachers, and new professional contacts. In Russian, Здравствуйте is usually the better opening until the relationship is clearly informal.

Asking how someone is

The standard beginner question is Как дела?, literally “How are things?” It is common in informal conversation and can also occur after a polite greeting. However, a greeting does not require this question: saying Здравствуйте! on its own is complete.

Useful answer patterns include:

Russian	English	Register or function
Хорошо, спасибо.	Fine, thank you.	Simple, neutral answer
Всё хорошо.	Everything is fine.	Neutral
Нормально.	Fine / Okay.	Conversational, restrained
А у тебя?	And you?	Informal, to one person
А у вас?	And you?	Polite to one person, or to several people

The difference between тебя and вас comes from the Russian informal/formal “you” distinction. At this stage, memorize А у тебя? and А у вас? as whole reply phrases.

Saying goodbye

Russian	Basic meaning	Typical use
До свидания!	Goodbye!	Neutral or polite; safe in formal settings
Пока!	Bye!	Informal
До завтра!	See you tomorrow!	Any suitable relationship
До встречи!	See you! / Until we meet again!	Neutral, when another meeting is expected
Спокойной ночи!	Good night!	Said before sleep or late-night leave-taking

Unlike English “good night,” Спокойной ночи is not an evening greeting. Use Добрый вечер when arriving in the evening and Спокойной ночи when parting late or going to bed.

Saying please and responding to thanks

Пожалуйста has two core functions:

1. It makes a request polite: Повторите, пожалуйста. — “Please repeat that.”
2. It answers thanks: Спасибо! — Пожалуйста. — “Thank you! — You’re welcome.”

Russian often places пожалуйста after the request, separated by a comma in writing. It can also appear at the beginning: Пожалуйста, говорите медленнее. The position changes the emphasis slightly, not the basic meaning.

Use спасибо for “thank you.” Add большое to make the thanks stronger: Спасибо большое! or Большое спасибо! Both mean “Thank you very much.” To name the reason, use спасибо за followed by the thing or action: Спасибо за помощь (“Thank you for the help”). The noun after за changes form according to Russian case—the system that changes word endings according to a word’s role—but beginners can learn common combinations as chunks.

Common replies are:

• Пожалуйста. — You’re welcome.
• Не за что. — Don’t mention it; literally, “There is nothing to thank me for.”
• Спасибо вам. — Thank you (polite or addressed to several people).
• Спасибо тебе. — Thank you (informal, to one person).

Apologizing and getting attention

Извините is the safe polite form for “excuse me” or “sorry.” It can address one person formally or more than one person. Извини is the corresponding informal form for one person.

Situation	Russian	English
Getting attention	Извините, где метро?	Excuse me, where is the metro?
Asking someone to repeat	Извините, повторите, пожалуйста.	Sorry, please repeat that.
A small apology	Извините, я опоздал / опоздала.	Sorry, I am late.
Informal apology	Извини, я не понял / не поняла.	Sorry, I didn’t understand.

Forms such as опоздал / понял are typically used by a male speaker; опоздала / поняла by a female speaker. You do not need to master past-tense agreement to use извините itself.

For a small mishap, the other person may reply Ничего страшного (“No problem; nothing serious”) or simply Ничего (“It’s okay”).

Examples in Context

Russian	English	Note
Здравствуйте! Как дела?	Hello! How are you?	A polite greeting; the question itself is conversational.
Доброе утро, Анна!	Good morning, Anna!	Morning greeting.
Привет! Рад тебя видеть.	Hi! I’m glad to see you.	Informal; spoken by a male speaker.
Привет! Пока!	Hi! Bye!	Informal at both ends of an exchange.
До свидания, спасибо за помощь.	Goodbye, thank you for the help.	Safe in a polite interaction.
До завтра!	See you tomorrow!	Used when you expect to meet the next day.
Спасибо большое!	Thank you very much!	Warm, emphatic thanks.
Спасибо за кофе. — Пожалуйста.	Thank you for the coffee. — You’re welcome.	A complete thanks-and-reply exchange.
Извините, где метро?	Excuse me, where is the metro?	Politely gets a stranger’s attention.
Повторите, пожалуйста.	Please repeat that.	Пожалуйста follows the request.
Извини, я не понимаю.	Sorry, I don’t understand.	Informal, to one person.
Как дела? — Хорошо, спасибо. А у вас?	How are you? — Fine, thank you. And you?	у вас is polite or plural.
Добрый вечер! — Здравствуйте!	Good evening! — Hello!	The replies need not use identical words.
Спокойной ночи! — Спокойной ночи!	Good night! — Good night!	A late parting or bedtime wish.

Common Mistakes

Using Привет with everyone

• Wrong: Привет! to an unfamiliar official or a customer in a formal interaction.
• Right: Здравствуйте!
• Why: English “hi” is broad, but Russian привет normally signals an informal relationship. Start politely when unsure.

Mixing a formal greeting with an informal follow-up

• Wrong: Здравствуйте! А у тебя? when politely addressing one stranger.
• Right: Здравствуйте! А у вас?
• Why: тебя belongs to informal singular address; вас matches polite address. Keep the register consistent.

Using Пока in a formal setting

• Wrong: Пока! to a person you continue to address formally.
• Right: До свидания!
• Why: пока is an informal “bye.” До свидания is the reliable neutral or polite option.

Treating пожалуйста as only “please”

• Incomplete exchange: Спасибо! — silence, because you are waiting for another word meaning “you’re welcome.”
• Natural reply: Спасибо! — Пожалуйста.
• Why: The same Russian word serves both functions. Context tells you whether it means “please” or “you’re welcome.”

Using Спокойной ночи as an arrival greeting

• Wrong: Спокойной ночи! when entering a restaurant in the evening.
• Right: Добрый вечер!
• Why: Спокойной ночи is a wish at bedtime or when leaving late, not the equivalent of an evening “hello.”

Choosing извини for a stranger

• Wrong: Извини, где вокзал? to an unfamiliar adult you address politely.
• Right: Извините, где вокзал?
• Why: извини is informal singular. Извините is polite singular or plural.

Usage Notes

Russian politeness is not only about selecting a word; it is also conveyed through tone and consistent forms of address. Здравствуйте, извините, and пожалуйста form a dependable set for interactions with strangers: Здравствуйте. Извините, где аптека? Спасибо! This may sound more formally structured than the equivalent English exchange, but it is ordinary and courteous Russian.

Among friends, repeated politeness markers can sound unnecessarily formal, though спасибо remains completely natural. A friend might say Привет!, Извини, and Пока! In workplaces and online communities, the boundary varies: some groups move quickly to informal language, while others retain polite address. Follow the language used by the other person if the relationship is unclear.

Punctuation helps show how these expressions fit into a sentence. A greeting or short thanks can stand alone with an exclamation mark. Пожалуйста and извините are commonly separated by commas when they sit beside the main message: Извините, где банк? and Помогите, пожалуйста.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the details below at A1, but you will encounter them later.

Здравствуйте is historically related to a wish for health and grammatically resembles a plural or polite command. Its informal singular relative здравствуй exists, but in modern everyday speech friends more often use привет. Здравствуй can sound warm, deliberate, literary, or slightly old-fashioned depending on context.

Russian has alternatives that adjust tone. Благодарю вас is a more formal “I thank you,” while Огромное спасибо (“enormous thanks”) expresses strong gratitude. Простите can mean “forgive me” or “excuse me” and may sound more apologetic than извините, although the two overlap greatly in everyday use. The full seriousness of an apology comes from context, tone, and an explanation—not merely from choosing one of these verbs.

In letters, messages, and public announcements, you may see Уважаемый... / Уважаемая... (“Dear/Respected...”) or greetings such as Добрый день used even when the recipient may read the message later. Capitalized Вы, Вас, and related forms sometimes show respectful address to one person in formal writing. Lowercase forms are also common; capitalization is a writing convention, not a pronunciation difference.

A further nuance concerns Как дела? It is often a real conversational question, not merely a fixed greeting. A brief answer such as Хорошо, спасибо is safe, but close friends may expect a genuine update. In a highly formal encounter, speakers may greet each other without asking it at all.

Practice Tips

1. Learn matched pairs. Rehearse mini-dialogues aloud: Спасибо — Пожалуйста, Как дела? — Хорошо, спасибо, and Извините — Ничего страшного. This prepares you to understand the reply as well as start the exchange.
2. Sort by relationship. Make two lists: polite (Здравствуйте, До свидания, Извините, А у вас?) and informal (Привет, Пока, Извини, А у тебя?). Imagine one stranger and one close friend, then address each consistently.
3. Practice one complete encounter. Say hello, ask a simple question, thank the person, and say goodbye: Здравствуйте. Извините, где метро? Спасибо. До свидания! Record yourself and repeat it until the sequence feels automatic.

Related Concepts

• Foundation topic: This concept has no prerequisite; these expressions can be learned as complete phrases from your first Russian lesson.
• Useful next steps: Study Russian formal and informal “you,” question patterns, and the imperative (the form used for requests and commands) to understand phrases such as повторите, пожалуйста more fully.