Russian Vocabulary (and Wisdom)

How to say "hi!" 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.

привет

Meaning: hi!, hello!, regards, greetings

Pronunciation: [pree-VYEHT]

Part of speech: noun (masculine noun; also a greeting phrase)

Rank: #2061

Example sentences:

Привет!
Hi! (informal greeting)
Приве́т, как дела́?
Hi, how are things?
Передава́й приве́т сестре́.
Send [my] regards to [your] sister. (informal)
Приве́т из Нью-Йо́рка!
Greetings from New-York!
Все́м приве́т!
Hello everybody! (informal)
Мо́жно переда́ть приве́т своему́ люби́мому му́жу и заказа́ть пе́сню "Миллио́н а́лых роз"?
May I send my regards to my beloved husband and request [to play] the song 'One million scarlet roses'? (on the radio)
Она, что, с приве́том?
Is she cuckoo or what?
Они́ передава́ли вам все́м приве́ты.
They were sending their regards to all of you.

Idioms and set expressions:

С приветом, [name] = Kind regards, [name] (informal, used in correspondence)
literal With hello
с приветом = cuckoo, insane
literal with hello
передавать привет (+ dative) = to send one's regards (to)
ни ответа ни привета от него = not a word from him
literal neither answer nor hello from him
горячий привет = warmest regards
literal hot regards

Related words:

приве́тик = hola
приве́тствие = greeting, salutation
здоро́во = hi! (familiar)
салю́т = salute! (familiar)

Proverbs and sayings:

Где слова привета, там улыбка для ответа.
Loving word may heal and bless.
literal Where there are words of a greeting, there is a smile for a reply.

Other forms of the word (declensions):

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	приве́т	приве́ты
Genitive	приве́та	приве́тов
Dative	приве́ту	приве́там
Accusative	приве́т	приве́ты
Instrumental	приве́том	приве́тами
Prepositional	приве́те	приве́тах

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.

Got questions?

Ask them in the Russian Questions and Answers — a place for students, teachers and native Russian speakers to discuss Russian grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and other aspects of the Russian language.