Purpose

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to greet someone, introduce yourself, and ask/answer basic questions about names and wellbeing in Russian.

Lesson Explanation

Common greetings: Привет (Hi — informal), Здравствуйте (Hello — formal, genuinely important to master despite its length, since it’s the standard polite greeting), Доброе утро (Good morning), Добрый день (Good afternoon), Добрый вечер (Good evening), До свидания (Goodbye), Пока (Bye — informal).

To introduce yourself: Меня зовут Анна. (My name is Anna — literally “they call me Anna,” a genuinely distinctive construction with no direct English equivalent). Как тебя зовут? (What is your name? — informal) Как вас зовут? (What is your name? — formal.) The тебя/вас contrast here previews the ты/вы formality distinction covered fully in Part 6, Lesson 1.

A genuinely important, distinctive Russian feature previewed here: there is no present-tense form of “to be” at all — Russian simply omits the verb where English would require “am/is/are,” a structural gap covered fully in Part 1, Lesson 5: Я Анна. (I am Anna — literally just “I Anna,” with no verb.)

Asking how someone is doing: Как дела? (How are you? — literally “how [are] things?”) Хорошо, спасибо. (Good, thank you.) А у тебя? (And you? — informal.)

Practice Questions