The most common Russian phrases

There are so many different ways of saying the same thing in our language! Unfortunately, most textbooks concentrate on “textbook Russian” and just skip the informal phrases. But in everyday life, people don’t speak that dry and boring language! That’s why it happens so often that a student who feels confident and ready, becomes so frustrated and disappointed when he or she meets the REAL Russian language with all its slang and idioms. That’s why I suggest to you to start learning real Russian phrases and words for everyday life right now. Let’s start with “How to say THANK YOU in Russian.”

1. Большое спасибо – Thank you very much. Literally it means ‘big thanks.’ It emphasizes the level of your gratitude. Also it’s politer than just ‘спасибо’.
2. Спасибо – Thanks. Just ‘thank you. It can be used everywhere with anyone.
3. Благодарю – Thank you. It’s from the verb ‘благодарить’. You can use it both in formal and informal situations, but remember that among friends it would sound funny.
4. С меня причитается – I owe you. The verb ‘причитаться’ means ‘to owe’. You use it when you want to do something in return.
5. Спс/пасибки/спасибочки – informal ways of saying ‘thank you’ in messages. Some people use these forms of ‘спасибо’ in their speech and especially in text messages.

How to respond to ‘thank you’ in Russian.

1. Пожалуйста – You are welcome. You can respond with ‘пожалуйста’ if you really did something for that person. Also don’t forget that the word ‘пожалуйста’ means ‘please,’ so don’t confuse them.
2. Не за что – Don’t mention it. Literally means ‘nothing to thank for.’ You can use it if what you did for that person was not too difficult.
3. Не стоит благодарности – Don’t mention it, nothing to thank for. Literally means “it’s not worth to be thanked for.” This phrase is a more formal version of ‘Не за что’.
4. Рад (рада) помочь – I’m happy to help. Don’t forget that you can’t say ‘рад помогать’, only ‘рад помочь’. Very often it comes together with ‘не за что’. For example: – Спасибо! – Да не за что, я рад помочь.
5. Вам (тебе) спасибо – And thank you. You can use this phrase when that person helped you too. Maybe you were doing some projects together. Or maybe it can be a dialogue with your guests:

• Спасибо за прекрасный вечер!
• Вам спасибо, что пришли.
• Thank you for a wonderful evening!
• And thank you for coming.

If you want to learn more phrases, check out my YouTube videos “5 ways of saying … in Russian:”

Check out my book ‘600 Real Russian phrases for everyday life’ HERE

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