Russian Hello

The Russian way to say Hello,  is not the only expression you will hear around here. No site on Russian greetings would be complete without teaching how to say: Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. These are the equivalent of Russian hello, but are used at different times of day.

The word “good” in Russian is “dobri”, but, adjectives (like “good”) have to change to agree with the noun (like “moring or day).
A lot of the times this means the words have to rhyme, but not always. Anyway, that’s why you’ll see two versions of the word “dobri” in these phrases.

good morning is spoken as = dobroe utro

Here’s how to pronounce this Russian greeting:

dough (as in bread) + bri (rhymes with “sky”) + uh (as in “duh!”)

utro = u (rhymes with “goo”) and “truh” (like the first part of “truck”)

So, all together: dough-bri-uh u-truh…”dobroe utro” [I know that this version, "dobroe" doesn't look the way we pronounce it, but it closely resembles how Russians spell it.]

Next we have “Good Day!”

Dobri dyayn

Dobri sounds like “Dough + bree”

…and “dyayn” sounds like, well….Almost like “Dane” but you need a bit of a “yuh” sound. Not “Dane”but “Dyane”.

And finally, the word for Good evening is:

dobri vyehcher.

The “dobri” we already know. But vyehcher needs to be looked at more closely.

Say, “I don’t give ya much credit.” Now say just the “–ve ya” part. Next, change the “ya” to “yeh”.
Finally, add “chur” on, and don’t forget to roll your R.

One more time, all together: dobri vyeh-cher

Let’s review real quick:

Russian for Good morning  = ?

Russian for Good day = ?

Russian for Good evening = ?

If you don’t remember these Russian phrases for hello, read through the article one more time. Try jotting them down on index cards, too.
And remember, these are greetings.  Like Russian for hello, You wouldn’t say any of them as you’re leaving, only as you’re arriving.

Ok, good luck and POKA!

Resources:

Good night in many languages