How to say hello in Russian

Dasha is a girl of seven years who is being raised in a suburb that lies to the northwest of Chicago. In the month of March the family received a visit from Lyudmila Petrovna, the oldest friend of her grandmother, a woman of seventy years who arrived from Moscow with a suitcase from which a smell of chocolate was coming. The greeting that was offered by Dasha in the hallway was privet, the only Russian hello that was known to her at that time. A pause of a noticeable length was produced by this choice, after which the full zdravstvuyte was pronounced by the mother of the girl, with a hand that was placed on the shoulder of her daughter, and the correct register of the meeting was restored by this word. The mistake that was made in that hallway was a mistake of distance rather than a mistake of politeness, because the greetings of the Russian language are divided according to the age of the listener and according to the closeness of the relationship. The question of how to say hello in Russian begins for a family with this division.

Привет and how to say hi in Russian

Privet (привет) is the form that is used by Dasha in conversations with her cousins and with the children of her Saturday school, and it serves as the answer to the question of how to say hi in Russian in nearly all situations that are met by a child. The stress of the word is placed on the second syllable, pree VYET, and the r is produced by one short tap of the tip of the tongue. The diminutive privetik is used among close friends when a light tone is wanted, in the same way that hi is extended to hiya in English. For hey, the English word itself is borrowed by Russian teenagers in many cases, or the form zdorovo is used among close friends, although a flavor of the locker room is carried by this form.

Здравствуйте and the formal hello

The first v sound of zdravstvuyte (здравствуйте) is omitted in speech, so that the spoken word is opened on zdra and is continued through stvooytye, with the stress that is placed on the first syllable. Have your child practice it in two pieces, zdra and then stvooytye, and let speed glue the pieces together. The origin of the word is connected, according to one version, with an old wish of good health, and the weight that is carried by the word in formal address is explained by this origin. In the family of Dasha the word is now reserved for teachers and for adults who are met for the first time.

How are you in Russian

Kak dela (как дела) was the question that followed in that hallway, how are you in Russian, and it was asked before the suitcase had reached the guest room. The answer that was given by Dasha was khorosho (good), and normalno (okay) would have performed the same work. The question is treated by Russians as a real one, and a full answer about school or about the weather is received without surprise, while a short fine thanks is understood as the end of the exchange. The formal version of this question takes the form of kak vy pozhivayete, which is used together with zdravstvuyte when elders are being addressed, while kak dela is used together with privet when the conversation is held among friends. The combination privet kak dela performs the function of hello how are you in Russian in informal situations, and the combination zdravstvuyte kak vy pozhivayete performs the same function when formal address is required.

What Russians say on the phone

Allo (алло) is the form that is reserved for conversations on the telephone. It is heard by Dasha whenever the phone is picked up by her grandmother in Moscow, a stretched ahh LOH with the stress that is placed at the end. The word entered the Russian language together with the telephone itself, according to the common account through the French allo, and it has remained inside the phone line since that time, so the use of allo in a face to face conversation is not met in practice.

Hello at different times of day

Dobroye utro (доброе утро), good morning, was brought down the stairs by Lyudmila Petrovna on the first morning of her visit to Chicago. Dobry den (добрый день), good day, accompanied the errands of the guest and the mother in Schaumburg, and dobry vecher (добрый вечер), good evening, was offered to the dinner guests at the door. These three forms are governed by the hour of the day rather than by formality, and they are applied to strangers and to grandmothers in the same manner.

Do you speak Russian and other first questions

At the Russian grocery store in Wheeling, the conversation is opened by the cashier with the question vy govorite po russki, do you speak Russian, on each occasion when the family of Dasha comes there for shopping. The answer that Dasha gives is da, govoryu (yes, I do), although nemnogo (a little) remains the honest option for a child whose knowledge of the language is still being built. One full sentence is kept ready by the father of Dasha, who was raised on English alone, and that sentence is ya ne govoryu po russki, I don’t speak Russian. Strangers also ask vy russkiy, are you Russian, and the adjective changes its ending with the person it describes, russkaya for a woman and russkiy for a man.

How both greetings are taught at our school

Lessons at our school were started by Dasha in April. The enrollment is opened by an assessment, at which the level of the child is determined by a methodologist, and the child is then placed in a small group at that level with a teacher. The class of Dasha is opened by the teacher with zdravstvuyte, and the answer of the group is waited for before the lesson is continued. Children of ages 4 to 17 are taught at our school, and the greetings form the material of the first week.

Frequently Asked Questions about saying hello in Russian