Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "it is necessary" in Russian

This Russian word is one of the top 1000 words in Russian. The complete list of most common Russian words is available here.

надо

Meaning: it is necessary, one must, need, want, have to, ought to, should

Pronunciation: [NAH-dah]

Part of speech: verb, preposition (used as an unchangeable verb and a preposition)

Rank: #92 (see frequency list)

It's necessary to brush your teeth every day.
Photo by kwimsnr, licensed under CC BY-GA 2.0

Example sentences:

Мне нáдо уйти́.
I need to leave.
Татья́не нáдо поéхать в Москву.
Tatiana needs to travel to Moscow.
Нáдо обязáтельно чи́стить зу́бы по утрáм.
One must brush their teeth every morning.
Нам срóчно нáдо бы́ло офóрмить ви́зу.
We had to get the visas urgently.
Тепéрь мне нáдо бу́дет мнóго занимáться.
I'll have to study a lot now.
Тебé нáдо бы покрáситься!
You should dye your hair!
Не нáдо трóгать игру́шки рукáми!
Don't touch the toys!
Нáдо слу́шаться пáпу.
You must obey your dad says. (addressing a kid)
Что тебé нáдо?
What do you want/need? (informal)
literal What to you needed?

Idioms and set expressions:

Так ему́ и нáдо! = It serves him!
Очень ей нáдо! = A lot she cares!
Нáдо же! = really, unbelievable
нáдо ду́мать = it's likely
что нáдо = the best there is
как нáдо = the right way
пáрень что нáдо = a great guy

Related words:

нáдобность = necessity, need
нáдобно = it's necessary (old-fashioned)
ну́жно = it's necessary, (one) must, need to, want, have to
необходи́мо = it's necessary, (one) must, need to, want, have to (formal version)

Vocabulary lesson: By Russificate blog exclusively for MasterRussian

Phrase recordings: Copyright(c) 2011 MasterRussian.com. All rights reserved.
Word recordings: Copyright(c) 2006 Streit Goulnara, Streit Eric, Vion Nicolas. Copyright(c) 2007 S. Sakhno, N. Vion. Distributed under CC-BY.

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