Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "boy" 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.

парень

Meaning: boy, guy, boyfriend, lad, chap, bloke

Pronunciation: [PAH-reen']

Part of speech: noun (masculine noun)

Rank: #369 (see frequency list)

His friends are strong guys.
Photo by madmolecule CC-BY-2.0

Example sentences:

Cерëжа - прекрácный пáрень.
Seriozha is a nice guy.
У тебя́ есть пáрень?
Do you have a boyfriend?
Егó друзья́ - крéпкие пáрни.
His friends are strong guys.
В то врéмя у меня́ ещë нé было пáрня.
I did not have a boyfried at that time.
У нас в клáccе совсéм нет парнéй.
There are no guys at all in our class.
Вчерá мы с парня́ми ходи́ли вы́пить.
Yesterday I went for a drink with the guys.
literal Yesterday we with the guys went to drink.
Ми́ша был рócлым и краси́вым пáрнем.
Misha was a tall and handsome guy.
Конéчно, Вóва же - свой пáрень!
Of course, Vova is an easy-going guy!
Пáрни, пошли́ у́жинать, ужé пóздно.
Guys, let's have dinner, it is getting late.
literal Guys, let's go to have dinner, it is already late.
Ты смотрéл фильм Скорсéзе "Слáвные пáрни"?
Have you seen the Scorsese's film "Goodfellas"?

Idioms and set expressions:

свой пáрень = easy-going guy
рубáха-пáрень = open-hearted guy
пéрвый пáрень на дерéвне = the cock of the village
literal the first guy in the village

Related words:

паренëк = boy (diminutive)
мужчи́на = man
ю́ноша = young man
мáльчик = boy
дéвушка = girl

Proverbs and sayings:

Пáрень золотóй, да ру́ки гли́няные.
The guy is nice, but he can not do anything with his hands.
literal The guy is gold, but his hands are made of clay.
Хорóш бы ты, пáрень, а никудá не годи́шься.
Guy, you would be nice, but you are good for nothing.
Авось - пáрень дóбрый: и́ли вы́ручит, и́ли вы́учит.
"Perhaps" is a nice guy: or it rescues you or it teaches you.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	па́рень	па́рни
Genitive	па́рня	парне́й
Dative	па́рню	парня́м
Accusative	па́рня	парне́й
Instrumental	па́рнем	парня́ми
Prepositional	па́рне	парня́х

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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