Before we move on to lesson six, I’d like to introduce you to some key conversational phrases of high frequency in this language.
There is a lot one could say concerning this topic, which is why we’ll only be focusing on the very key phrases and some additional tidbits to further aide your understanding.
Greetings
We’ll start with probably the most common greeting.
Здравствуйте! = Hello (formal)
This literally means be healthy. It comes from the verb здравствовать, which isn’t a very commonly used verb. This greeting can actually be made informal by removing the –те ending.
…Pronunciation tip. The в is silent. It’s pronounced: zdrAstvuyte
Even with one silent letter, not much is alleviated, thus in everyday speech you’ll hear Здравсте! Once again, don’t pronounce в.
We can also greet someone depending on the time of day. These work as formal and informal greetings.
Доброе утро! = Good morning!
Добрый день! = Good afternoon!
Добрый вечер! = Good evening!
Here is a very common greeting among those on familiar terms with each other and the young people.
Привет! = Hi! (informal)
This expression stems from the verb приветствовать, meaning to welcome. This word is sometimes shortened to just Прив! An already informal expression made even more informal!
Other greetings you might encounter:
Здорово! = Hi (informal)
This expression stems from the adjective здоровый, meaning healthy. Be careful with its pronunciation, for здорово means excellent.
Салют! = Hi! (informal)
This comes from the French greeting salut, meaning hi. For those of you who are interested in linguistic history, French has had a significant influence on Russian.
Introductions
Who are you?! We have to know this. We’ve learned how to greet someone, now let’s learn to say who we are and ask who someone is.
Меня зовут… = My name is…
This expression literally means they call me… Зовут is the third-person plural conjugation of the verb звать.
Now ask someone what their name is. Here are the necessary sentences for this. The pronouns are in the accusative case, but don’t worry about these grammatical notions just yet.
Как Вас зовут? = What’s your name? (formal)
Как тебя зовут? = What’s your name? (informal)
…
And what about the last name? There’s more to a name than the first.
Как Ваша фамилия? = What’s your last name? (formal)
Как твоя фамилия? = What’s your last name? (informal)
Did you notice that фамилия is a false cognate? It doesn’t mean family [семья], but rather last name.
…
This additional part won’t concern you, however this is nevertheless something useful to be aware of in Russian: asking someone their patronymic (father’s name).
Как Ваше отчество? = What’s your patronymic?
Как твоё отчество? = What’s your patronymic?
Russian names are composed of three parts: first name, patronymic and last name. Names work differently in other cultures. I’m American, so my name is composed of three parts as well, just not in the same way: first name, middle name and last name.
Notice in these questions, the word как [how], in place of что [what], is used.
…
Now it’s time to express how happy you are to have made someone’s acquaintance.
There are two variants we can use:
Очень приятно. = Nice to meet you./Pleased to meet you.
This literally means very pleasant. This is probably the most common way to express nice to meet you in Russian. Let’s look at the other one:
Приятно познакомиться! = Nice to meet you./Pleased to meet you.
This literally means pleasant to meet. It’s a slightly more formal variant. The previous phrase is the shortened version of the complete phrase мне очень приятно с Вами познакомиться (formal) and мне очень приятно с тобой познакомиться (informal).
As a response, you can repeat these phrases or say the following:
Мне тоже. = Likewise.
This literally means me too, but it translates here as likewise. It’s the shortened version of the complete phrases мне тоже очень приятно and мне тоже приятно познакомиться or the even more complete phrases мне тоже очень приятно с Вами познакомиться (formal) and мне тоже очень приятно с тобой познакомиться. But rarely will you hear such a long response. I’m just telling you that’s it’s certainly possible to hear and say. Perhaps if you were obsessing over meeting someone and the day finally came, such a phrase would be appropriate.
Взаимно. = Likewise.
This literally means mutually.
Inquiring
To ask someone how they are doing, you can use the following phrase:
Как у Вас дела? = How are you? (formal)
This literally means How are things by you? Дела is the plural form of дело, which has many meanings depending on context. If you’re a beginner, don’t over-examine things, please. These are here simply for those who are curious and because I think you should know what you are literally saying when using these everyday phrases and expressions.
The informal variant would be:
Как у тебя дела? = How are you? (informal)
There also exists the shortened form:
Как дела? = How are you? (informal)
The way to answer this question would be like this:
У меня хорошо. = I’m fine
This is probably the most common way response, but what if you’re not doing well? Better? Worse? After all life has its ups and downs.
превосходно = spectacular
отлично = excellent
прекрасно = wonderful
нормально = okay
Literally means normal. If things are normal, then you’re probably doing okay. In informal speech you’ll hear норм.
плохо = unwell
ничего = alright
…Pronunciation tip. Г sounds like в in this word. It’s pronounced: nichivO
Literally it means nothing. Nothing has changed, so you’re doing alright.
ужасно = awful, terrible
If you answer with any adjective, it must always be like this, in the short form, because we are answering the question как? Russian is big on answering and asking questions in a particular way. Those of you who are complete beginners probably won’t have a clue what the short form is. This is nothing problematic, just focus on the information given.
Всё в порядке. = All is fine.
Literally means everything (is) in order. You can turn this into a question and say Всё в порядке? to express Is everything okay?
Then, to show your good manners, you’ll want to ask someone how they are doing in response or they’ll do this.
А у Вас? = And you?
Or the informal variant:
А у тебя? = And you?
A common, and much simpler, variant to ask someone how they’re doing is:
Как Вы? = How are you? (formal)
Как ты? = How are you? (informal)
Here are some other, informal, phrases you’ll hear:
Как жизнь? = How’s life?
Что нового? = What’s new?
Ways to answer this question are ничего нового (nothing’s new) or всё по-старому (same old, same old).
Farewells
До свидания! = Goodbye! (formal)
…Pronunciation tip. In Russian, prepositions [до] are pronounced as if they are part of the proceeding word; pronounce this phrase as dasvidAniya.
Пока! = Bye! (informal)
This expression can also be doubled as пока-пока! In this way it’s similar to bye-bye!
Чао! = Ciao! (informal)
Other ways to depart can include:
До встречи! = See you later!
…Pronunciation tip. Read the previous pronunciation tips. It’s pronounced: davstrEchi
До скорого! = See you soon!
…Pronunciation tip. Read the previous pronunciation tips. It’s pronounced: daskOruhvuh
До завтра! = See you tomorrow!
…Pronunciation tip. Read the previous pronunciation tips. It’s pronounced: dazAvtra
That’s all, I suppose. I hope this post has served as a great aid for you when chatting with a Russian speaker. This is by no means a complete conversational guide, given that there’s a multitude of things that could be said upon meeting someone and then getting to know them. In any case, it’s a great start to achieving conversational ability. I’ll continue to add to this list and make changes as I deem fit.
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