Russian words for beginners

In the section “Russian Words for Beginners” you can find basic Russian vocabulary that will help you to gain some confidence in making basic conversations and don’t look for your words when you want to express some simple ideas in Russian.

This section is not for complete beginners. If you are a complete beginner, we recommend you to start here: Survival Russian – Russian for dummies.

Every word comes with a picture, two examples and an audio recorded by a native Russian speaker. Click on the word or a picture for more details.

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встава́ть [fstavát'] Verb, imperfective. Perfective - встать

to stand up, to get up, to rise; to be up

Examples

  • Обы́чно я встаю́ в семь утра́.

    a-bých-na ya fsta-yú f syem' ut-rá

    I usually get up at seven in the morning.

  • Встава́й, пошли́!

    fsta-vái, pash-lée

    Get up, let's go!

кварти́ра [kvartéera] Noun, feminine, plural - кварти́ры

apartment, flat

Examples

  • У него́ была́ кварти́ра в це́нтре го́рода.

    u nee-vó by-la kvar-tée-ra f tsént-ree gó-ra-da

    He had an apartment in the center of the city.

  • Его́ кварти́ра на восьмо́м этаже́.

    ee-vó kvar-tée-ra na vas'-móm ee-ta-zhé

    His apartment is on the eighth floor.

смотре́ть [smatryét'] Verb, imperfective. Perfective - посмотре́ть

to look, to watch

Examples

  • Смотри́ сюда́.

    smat-rée syu-dá

    Look here.

  • Я уже́ смотре́ла э́то кино́.

    ya u-zhé smat-ryé-la é-ta kee-nó

    I watched this movie already.

дру́жба [drúzhba] Noun, feminine

friendship

Examples

  • На́ша дру́жба начала́сь два го́да наза́д.

    ná-sha drúzh-ba na-cha-lás' dva gó-da na-zát

    Our friendship started 2 years ago.

  • Их свя́зывала кре́пкая дру́жба.

    eeh svyá-zy-va-la kryép-ka-ya drúzh-ba

    They were connected by a strong friendship.

гуля́ть [gu-lyát'] Verb, imperfective. Perfective - погуля́ть

to go for a walk, to walk, to stroll, to be outside

Examples

  • Пойдём гуля́ть?

    pai-dyóm gu-lyát'

    Let's go for a walk?

  • Де́ти гуля́ют на у́лице.

    dyé-tee gu-lyá-yut na ú-lee-tse

    The kids are (playing / having time) outside.

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Survival Russian

Start learning Russian with this essential vocabulary that will help you to remove the first bricks from your language barrier.

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Russian words for beginners

Essential Russian words and phrases for those who already started but still need to catch up a lot of vocabulary.

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Intermediate Russian

Russian words and expressions for those who already speak a little Russian and want to have smoother Russian conversations.

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Advanced Russian

Russian words and phrases for those who already speak Russian good enough to want to sound like a native speaker.

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