



But certain words are easier as you will hear them almost everywhere you go. There is no easy way to remember these exceptions and many Russians also make mistakes. Zdrastvui (3дравствуй)Ĭontrary to popular belief, the pronunciation of many Russian phrases and words differs from their writing. RELATED CONTENT: Russia’s new e-visa has made it even easier to visit St Petersburg 2. Na zdorovie (На здоровье) is actually a response to someone asking to do something (Можно мне кусок пирога? – На здоровье: Can I have a slice of pie? – Go ahead) or a way of saying ‘You are welcome’ in response to ‘Spasibo’ (‘Спасибо’ or ‘Thank you’). It could be ‘for family’, ‘for love’, ‘for meeting each other’ or even a super long story going back to the day you met someone – the sky is the limit. True Russian toasts are custom-made for the occasion during every single toast. We are known to be a drinking nation, but we actually don’t have an equivalent for ‘cheers’. However, this usage seems to be common in Polish, but not in Russian. Na zdorovie (На здоровье)Ī lot of people around the world seem to think ‘на здоровье’ (na zdorovie) is Russian for ‘cheers’ when toasting. Luckily, we’ve prepared a list of Russian phrases you will likely encounter on your travels, together with their correct meanings and pronunciations, for you to read through before you travel to Russia. Learning Russian can sometimes feel like trying to swim against a tidal wave: no matter how hard you try, it seems there’s always another grammar, pronunciation or lexical curveball headed your way.
