Do you understand? in Russian: How to say?

Jun 23, 2020 | How to say it in Russian?

Saying do you understand? in Russian depends on the number of people you are talking to and whether it is a formal or informal situation.

Here are the possible variations of do you understand? in Russian:

– понима́ешь?
[pa-nee-má-eesh’]
singular informal

– понима́ете?
[pa-ne-má-ee-tye]
plural informal or formal (singular and plural)

Понима́ешь/понима́ете is a command form of the verb понима́ть (to understand).

You can be more verbose and use some pronouns in your sentence, for example:

– Ты меня́ понима́ешь?
[ty mee-nyá pa-nee-má-eesh’]
Do you understand me? (informal singular)

– Вы меня́ понима́ете?
[vy mee-nyá pa-nee-má-ee-tye]
Do you understand me? (informal plural or formal)

– Ты всё понима́ешь?
[ty fsyo pa-nee-má-eesh’]
Do you understand everything? (informal singular)

– Вы всё понима́ете?
[vy fsyo pa-nee-má-ee-tye]
Do you understand everything? (informal plural or formal)

– Ты всё по́нял?
[ty fsyo pó-nyal]
Did you understand everything? (informal singular)

– Вы всё по́няли?
[vy fsyo pó-nya-lee]
Did you understand everything? (informal plural, for a formal situation it can sound a bit rude)

Listen to "Do you understand?" in Russian

The audio recording includes all the examples (in bold and blue) listed above.

понима́ть

[paneemát'] Verb , imperfective

to understand

Я ни сло́ва не понима́ю из того́, что он говори́т.

ya nee slóva nee panémáyu ees tavó, chto on gavaréet

I do not understand a word from what he says.
Я никогда́ не понима́ла, как э́то рабо́тает.

ya neekagdá nye paneemála kak éta rabótayet

I never understood how this works.
Он бы́стро по́нял в чём де́ло.

on býstra pónyal f chyom dyéla

He quickly understood what was happening.
Ты всё поняла́? - Да.

ty fsyo paneela? da

Did you understand everything? - Yes.
Она́ поняла́, что её обма́нывают, но не подала́ ви́ду.

aná paneelá, chto yeyó abmányvayut, no nye padalá véedu

She realized that she was being deceived, but she did not show it.
Тебе́ всё поня́тно?

teebyé vsyo panyátna

Is it clear? (Do you understand everything?)
Он по́нял, что неправ, но призна́ться оказа́лась кишка́ тонка́.

on pónyal chto nye praf, no preeznátsa akazálas' keeshká tanká

He realized that he was wrong but didn't have guts to admit it.