Greetings is one of the most important topics in languages. In Russian language there are a lot of different ways to greet someone and I’m going to show you as much as I remember. So let’s start.

Formal greetings.

Здравствуйте! [zdrAstvooytye] – Hello!/ How do you do!
This is a very formal greeting that we use with strangers, old people or someone whom we address in “Вы” (You). We use it also when we address multiple people.
Здравствуй! [zdrAstvooy] – Hello!
This is a less formal greeting and we use it when we know a person very well or someone whom we address in “ты” (you). An old person can tell us “Здравствуй”, but we can say only “Здравствуйте” to him to show the respect.

During the different times of a day, we use different greetings:
Доброе утро! [dObraye OOtra] – Good morning!
Добрый день! [dObriy dyen’] – Good afternoon!
Добрый вечер! [dObriy vYEchyer] – Good evening!

Informal greetings.

Привет! [preevYEt] – Hi!
This is the most common informal greeting that we usually use with our friends or family members.
Приветик! [preevYEteek]/ Приветики! [preevYEteekee] – Hi!
These are diminutive forms of “привет”. We usually use it when we are very glad to see someone.
Здорово! [zdarOva] – Hi!
This greeting is used only by men or girls who act like men. We use it to greet only our friends.
Хай! [hi]/ Хаюшки! [haYOOshki] – Hi!
This is an English greeting and its diminutive form that is usually used by young people very often nowadays.
Трям! [trYAm] – Hi!
It’s a non-existent word that was taken from the old soviet cartoon and it’s used very rarely.

Now you know different ways of greeting in Russian and if you know some other interesting expressions, you can share with us.