Russian Basics

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Section 1

Greetings & Common Phrases (Общие фразы)

Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet — 33 letters, many of which look or sound like familiar Latin ones. Don’t be put off! Each word below shows the Cyrillic spelling with a transliteration underneath to help you sound it out. Visit our Russian Hub page for more resources.

Привет

Privet

Hello / Hi

Как дела?

Kak dela?

How are you?

Доброе утро

Dobroye utro

Good morning

Добрый вечер

Dobryy vecher

Good evening

Спокойной ночи

Spokoynoy nochi

Good night

До скорого

Do skorogo

See you soon

Меня зовут…

Menya zovut…

My name is…

Да, пожалуйста

Da, pozhaluysta

Yes, please

Нет, спасибо

Net, spasibo

No, thank you

Иногда

Inogda

Sometimes

Никогда

Nikogda

Never

Всегда

Vsegda

Always

💡 Cyrillic Quick-Start: Several Cyrillic letters look just like Latin ones — А Е О Т — and share the same sound. Others look different but sound familiar: П = P, Р = R, С = S, У = U. Learn just these first and you can already read many Russian words!

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Section 2

Numbers (Числа)

Learn how to count in Russian from 1 to 20:

1

Один

One

2

Два

Two

3

Три

Three

4

Четыре

Four

5

Пять

Five

6

Шесть

Six

7

Семь

Seven

8

Восемь

Eight

9

Девять

Nine

10

Десять

Ten

11

Одиннадцать

Eleven

12

Двенадцать

Twelve

13

Тринадцать

Thirteen

14

Четырнадцать

Fourteen

15

Пятнадцать

Fifteen

16

Шестнадцать

Sixteen

17

Семнадцать

Seventeen

18

Восемнадцать

Eighteen

19

Девятнадцать

Nineteen

20

Двадцать

Twenty

Ordinal Numbers — In Order (Порядковые числительные)

1stПервый/ая

2ndВторой/ая

3rdТретий/ья

4thЧетвёртый/ая

5thПятый/ая

6thШестой/ая

7thСедьмой/ая

8thВосьмой/ая

9thДевятый/ая

10thДесятый/ая

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Section 3

Common Verbs (Глаголы)

Verbs are the engine of every sentence. Here are 12 essential Russian verbs to get you started:

💬

Говорить

Govorit'

to speak

🍽

Есть

Yest'

to eat

🥤

Пить

Pit'

to drink

🔨

Делать

Delat'

to do / to make

🚶

Идти / Ходить

Idti / Khodit'

to go / to walk

👀

Видеть

Videt'

to see

✨

Быть

Byt'

to be

✏

Писать

Pisat'

to write

🤚

Иметь

Imet'

to have

🛍

Покупать

Pokupat'

to buy

😴

Спать

Spat'

to sleep

💼

Работать

Rabotat'

to work

🤔 Russian Verb Aspect — A Unique Concept
Russian verbs come in pairs called aspects. The imperfective describes ongoing or repeated actions; the perfective describes a completed action. For example: читать (to read, ongoing) vs прочитать (to read, completed).
This concept has no direct equivalent in English, but mastering it unlocks precise, natural-sounding Russian.

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Section 4

Colors (Цвета)

Красный

Red

Оранжевый

Orange

Жёлтый

Yellow

Зелёный

Green

Синий

Blue (dark)

Голубой

Blue (light)

Фиолетовый

Purple

Чёрный

Black

Белый

White

Серый

Gray

Коричневый

Brown

Тёмный

Dark

💡 Two Blues in Russian!
Russian has two separate words for blue: Синий (Siniy) for dark or navy blue, and Голубой (Goluboy) for light or sky blue. Native speakers treat these as completely distinct colors, not shades of the same one — a fascinating window into how language shapes perception!

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Section 5

Days, Weeks & Months (Дни, Недели и Месяцы)

📆 Days of the Week

Понедельник

Monday

Вторник

Tuesday

Среда

Wednesday

Четверг

Thursday

Пятница

Friday

Суббота

Saturday

Воскресенье

Sunday

⏰ Time Words

День

Day

Неделя

Week

Месяц

Month

Год

Year

Десятилетие

Decade

📅 Months of the Year

Январь

January

Февраль

February

Март

March

Апрель

April

Май

May

Июнь

June

Июль

July

Август

August

Сентябрь

September

Октябрь

October

Ноябрь

November

Декабрь

December

💡 Days with Hidden Meanings: Russian weekdays carry fascinating roots. Понедельник (Monday) means “after Sunday,” Вторник (Tuesday) means “second,” Среда (Wednesday) means “middle,” Четверг (Thursday) means “fourth,” and Пятница (Friday) means “fifth.” Воскресенье (Sunday) means “resurrection” — a nod to the Christian tradition.

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