Can I buy you a drink? in Russian: How to say?

In Russia, it’s accustomed that gentlemen offer drinks to the ladies and pay for them, not vice versa. The exact phrase to use also depends on the level of the closeness between you and the lady.

If your relationship are not too close, you just met or you don’t want to be too informal, you can say:

– Могу́ я вас угости́ть?
[ma-gú ya vas u-gas-téet’]
Can I offer you something?

– Могу́ я вас чем-нибу́дь угости́ть?
[ma-gú ya vas chyem-nee-bút’ u-gas-téet’]
Can I offer you something?

If your relationship with the lady are close, or you feel quite at ease with each other and it’s a quite informal situation, you can say:

– Могу́ я тебя́ угости́ть?
[ma-gú ya tee-byá u-gas-téet’]
Can I offer you something?

– Могу́ я тебя́ чем-нибу́дь угости́ть?
[ma-gú ya vas chyem-nee-bút’ u-gas-téet’]
Can I offer you something?

Угости́ть means to treat in Russian. You can угости́ть with a drink or with food.

If you want to be a bit more specific about what you are offering, you can say:

– Могу́ я вас угости́ть бока́лом вина́?
[ma-gú ya vas u-gas-téet’ ba-ká-lam vee-ná]
Can I offer you a glass of wine? (formal situation)

– Могу́ я тебя́ угости́ть бока́лом вина́?
[ma-gú ya tee-byá u-gas-téet’ ba-ká-lam vee-ná]
Can I offer you a glass of wine? (informal situation)

There are also other variations of can I buy you a drink? in Russian. For example:

– Хоти́те чего́-нибу́дь вы́пить?
[ho-tée-tye chee-vó-nee-bút’ vý-peet’]
Do you want to have a drink? (formal)

– Ты хо́чешь чего́-нибу́дь вы́пить?
[ty hó-cheesh’ chee-vó-nee-bút’ vý-peet’]
Do you want to have a drink? (informal)

– Могу́ я предложи́ть тебе́ чего́-нибу́дь вы́пить?
[ma-gú ya preed-la-zhéet’ tee-byé chee-vó-nee-bút’ vý-peet’]
Can I offer you (to have) a drink? (informal)

– Могу́ я предложи́ть вам чего́-нибу́дь вы́пить?
[ma-gú ya preed-la-zhéet’ vam chee-vó-nee-bút’ vý-peet’]
Can I offer you (to have) a drink? (formal)

– Могу́ я предложи́ть тебе́ бока́л вина́?
[ma-gú ya preed-la-zhéet’ tee-byé ba-kál vee-ná]
Can I offer you a glass of wine? (informal)

– Могу́ я предложи́ть вам бока́л вина́?
[ma-gú ya preed-la-zhéet’ vam ba-kál vee-ná]
Can I offer you a glass of wine? (formal)

– Мо́жет быть, бока́л вина́?
[mó-zheet byt’, ba-kál vee-ná]
Maybe a glass of wine?

– Не хоти́те бока́л вина́?
[nye ha-tée-tye ba-kál vee-ná]
Would you like a glass of wine?

– Как насчёт чего́-нибу́дь вы́пить?
[kak nas-chyót chee-vó-nee-bút’ vý-peet’]
How about to have a drink?

The common trait of all these sentences is that you don’t really use the word buy, it would sound a bit inappropriate in such situations. It’s assumed that you are paying for the drinks anyway.