Just imagine that you need to make an appointment to save the world with native Russian super heroes—just for the usual international superhero meeting. :-) Well, you’d definitely need to be able to tell the date…the Russian date.

Maybe you have a super ability to read other people’s minds? Well, you still need to learn the dates because Russian superheroes—and actually all other Russians—think in…yep, Russian! Surprise. :-)

So, gonna save the world? Learn how to read and tell the date in Russian. Let’s get started with the basics, and you’ll soon see that expressing dates in Russian really isn’t so hard.

Table of Contents

1. Russian Dates: Calendar Dates in Russian
2. Days of the Week in Russian
3. Must-Know Phrases and Words to Talk about Dates in Russian
4. Conclusion: How RussianPod101 Can Help You Master Russian

1. Russian Dates: Calendar Dates in Russian

Let’s learn how to say dates in Russian. More specifically, we’ll answer the question “How are dates written in Russian?”

Russian dates are usually written in the following order: day-month-year. For example, 22.05.2025. Let’s learn how to read Russian dates and use the Russian calendar, so that you can soon start talking about dates in Russian like it’s nothing!

1- How to Say Months in Russian

Let’s start with the months of the year in Russian. You may notice that Russian month names resemble the English ones. That’s because the etymology for these words is the same:

• “January” in Russian is Январь (yanvar’). This month got its name from the ancient Roman god Janus. He was the god of time, gates, and doorways. So, metaphorically speaking, январь (yanvar’) is a doorway to the new year.
• Февраль (fevral’) is “February.” In Russia, this month has always been the coldest month of the whole year. The month’s name comes from the name of the ancient Roman god of purification, Februus. His holy month was February.
• Март (mart) is “March.” The first spring month was named after the god of war, Mars. But how are spring and war connected? Well, the thing is that this god also guarded agriculture. That’s why most of his festivals were held in this first spring month.
• Апрель (aprel’) is “April.” This month was named after the ancient Greek goddess, Afrodita. During this month, the snow melts and everything starts to grow and bloom.
• Май (may) is “May.” The warmest spring month was named after the ancient Greek pleiad Maia, who symbolized the growth and blooming of nature.
• Июнь (iyun’) is “June.” The first summer month was named after the ancient Roman goddess Juno, who took care of soil fertility and the strength of marriage.
• Июль (iyul‘) is “July.” The hottest summer month was named after Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor.
• Август (avgust) is “August.” This month’s name comes from the name of another Roman emperor: Augustus.
• Сентябрь (sentyabr’) is “September.” In ancient times, the year started not in January but in March. That is why the first autumn month was derived from the Latin word septum which means “seven.”
• Октябрь (oktyabr’) is “October.” October was derived from the Latin word octo which means “eight.” But did the fantasy of the ancient month name-giver finish? :-)
• Ноябрь (noyabr’) is “November.” This is from the Latin word novo which means “nine.”
• Декабрь (dekabr’) is “December.” This month’s name is also derived from a Latin word: decem which means “ten.”

If you need to say “leap month” in Russian, use високосный месяц (visokosnyy mesyats).

Now, practice the Russian calendar months with our word list.

2- How to Say Days in Russian

Dates and numbers in Russian go hand-in-hand. When telling dates in Russian, you need to use Russian ordinal numbers for the days, which behave like adjectives in sentences. “Date” or “number” in Russian is число (chislo). This noun has a neutral gender, which is why all the date numbers are used with neutral endings as well:

• Первое (pervoye)—”the first”
• Второе (vtoroye)—”the second”
• Третье (tret’ye)—”the third”
• Четвертое (chetvyortoye)—”the fourth”
• Пятое (pyatoye)—”the fifth”
• Шестое (shestoye)—”the sixth”
• Седьмое (sed’moye)—”the seventh”
• Восьмое (vos’moye)—”the eighth”
• Девятое (devyatoye)—”the ninth”
• Десятое (desyatoye)—”the tenth”
• Одиннадцатое (odinnadtsatoye)—”the eleventh”
  • Please, note that the letter д (d) in the number одиннадцатый and in the following numbers is not pronounced.
• Двенадцатое (dvenadtsatoye)—”the twelfth”
• Тринадцатое (trinadtsatoye)—”the thirteenth”
• Четырнадцатое (chetyrnadtsatoye)—”the fourteenth”
• Пятнадцатое (pyatnadtsatoye)—”the fifteenth”
• Шестнадцатое (shestnadtsatoye)—”the sixteenth”
• Семнадцатое (semnadtsatoye)—”the seventeenth”
• Восемнадцатое (vosemnadtsatoye)—”the eighteenth”
• Девятнадцатое (devyatnadtsatoye)—”the nineteenth”
• Двадцатое (dvadtsatoye)—”the twentieth”
• Двадцать первое (dvadtsat’ pervoye)—”the twenty-first”
• Двадцать второе (dvadtsat’ vtotoye)—”the twenty-second”
• Двадцать третье (dvadtsat’ tret’ye)—”the twenty-third”
• Двадцать четвертое (dvadtsat’ chetvyortoye)—”the twenty-fourth”
• Двадцать пятое (dvadtsat’ pyatoye)—”the twenty-fifth”
• Двадцать шестое (dvadtsat’ shestoye)—”the twenty-sixth”
• Двадцать седьмое (dvadtsat’ sed’moye)—”the twenty-seventh”
• Двадцать восьмое (dvadtsat’ vos’moye)—”the twenty-eighth”
• Двадцать девятое (dvadtsat’ devyatoye)—”the twenty-ninth”
• Тридцатое (tridtsatoye)—”the thirtieth”
• Тридцать первое (tridtsat’ pervoye)—”the thirty-first”

In order to write the day in Russian dates with numerals, write a number, add a hyphen, and add the last two letters of the last number-word. For example:

• Первое (pervoye)
  1-ое
  “the first”
• Второе (vtoroye)
  2-ое
  “the second”
• Третье (tret’ye)
  3-ье
  “the third”
• Четвертое (chetvyortoye)
  4-ое
  “the fourth”
• Пятое (pyatoye)
  5-ое
  “the fifth”
• Двадцать восьмое (dvadtsat’ vos’moye)
  28-ое
  “the twenty-eighth”
• Тридцатое (tridtsatoye)
  30-ое
  “the thirtieth”

You can learn more about Russian ordinal and cardinal numbers from our article about Russian numbers, and practice naming numbers with our word list.

3- How to Say the Years in Russian

Now, onto dates and years in Russian. The numbers of the year in Russian are also ordinal numbers. “Year” in Russian is год (god). This noun has a masculine gender, which is why all year numbers are used with masculine endings as well. For example:

• 1876: тысяча восемьсот семдесят шестой (tysyacha vosem’sot semdesyat shestoy)
• 1925: тысяча девятьсот двадцать пятый (tysyacha devyat’sot dvadtsat’ pyatyy)
• 2012: две тысячи двенадцатый (dve tysyachi dvenadtsatyy)

Please, note that there’s more than one way to read 1000 in Russian: тысяча (tysyacha or tyshcha) or одна тысяча (odna tysyacha). The shorter version is used in spoken language.

4- How to Say Dates in Russian: Putting it Together

Now you know how to tell days, months, and years in Russian. Let’s see how they work together, and how to write dates in Russian in full.

In order to tell the date, use the Genitive case for the name of the month and the number of the year:

• 08.03.2007
  восьмое марта две тысячи седьмого года
  vos’moye marta dve tysyachi sed’mogo goda
  “The 8th of March, 2007.”

By the way, the 8th of March is an official holiday in Russia: International Women’s Day. To learn more about important dates in Russia, listen to our audio.

• 23.04.1991
  двадцать третье апреля тысяча девятьсот девяносто первого года
  dvadtsat’ tret’ye aprelya tysyacha devyat’sot devyanosto pervogo goda
  “The 23d of April, 1991.”

Now, to practice writing dates in Russian yourself, write down your birthday in Russian in the comments section below. ;)

Now you’re ready to learn how to ask “When is your birthday?” in Russian.

2. Days of the Week in Russian

The first day of the Russian week is usually Monday. “Weekdays” are called будни (budni). If you want to say “weekday,” use будний день (budniy den’).

“Weekend” is выходные (vykhodnyye). To say “weekend day,” use выходной день (vykhodnoy den’).

1- Monday

So, let’s start with how to say “Monday” in Russian. First, you need to know that there’s a Russian tradition of not doing anything on Sunday. In Russian, this is called не делать (ne delat’) or “not to do.” That’s why “Monday” in Russian language is called понедельник (ponedel’nik). It’s the day after not doing anything.

2- Tuesday

“Tuesday” in Russian is вторник (vtornik). You can see that it starts similarly to the word второй (vtoroy) which means “the second.” That was actually how this weekday was named; it’s the second day of the week.

3- Wednesday

“Wednesday” in Russian is среда (sreda). Wednesday in Russia is usually considered to be the middle of the week (at least, the middle of the working week). That’s why the name was created from the word середина (seredina) meaning “the middle.”

4- Thursday

“Thursday” in Russian is четверг (chetverg). Thursday is the fourth day of a Russian week, so the name comes from the number четыре (chetyre) which means “four.” If you want to know more about Russian numbers, check out our article.

5- Friday

“Friday” in Russian is пятница (pyatnitsa). In Russian, “five” is пять (pyat’), hence the name of the weekday.

6- Saturday

So, now let’s learn how to say “Saturday” in Russian: суббота (subbota). The name has an interesting history. It comes from the Jewish word Sabbath which means “to rest.”

7- Sunday

“Sunday” in Russian is воскресенье (voskresen’ye). The name comes from the Russian Christian tradition and means the day of the resurrection of Jesus. In Russian, “resurrection” is воскресение (voskreseniye). As you can see, only one letter is different. Make sure that you don’t mix the words up!

Now practice Russian days of the week with our word list.

3. Must-Know Phrases and Words to Talk about Dates in Russian

Now you know how to give the dates and days of the week in Russian. Let’s enrich your vocabulary so that you can learn how to use these words in a sentence and build a proper dialogue about the dates. By the end of this section, you should also have a better idea about how to read dates in Russian.

• Вчера (vchera)—”yesterday”
  Вчера шёл дождь (Vchera shyol dozhd’)—”It was raining yesterday.”
• Сегодня (segodnya)—”today”
  Сегодня плохая погода (Segodnya plokhaya pogoda)—”The weather is bad today.”
• Завтра (zavtra)—”tomorrow”
  Завтра будет солнечно (Zavtra budet solnechno)—”It will be sunny tomorrow.”
  Давай встретимся завтра (Davay vstretimsya zavtra)—”Let’s meet tomorrow.”

  The answer to that suggestion can be:
            Давай! (Davay!)—”Sure!”

• Позавчера (pozavchera)—”the day before yesterday”
  Позавчера я встретился с русским другом (Pozavchera ya vstretilsya s russkim drugom)—”The day before yesterday, I met up with my Russian friend.”
• Послезавтра (poslezavtra)—”the day after tomorrow”
  Послезавтра я собираюсь в больницу (Poslezavtra ya sobirayus’ v bol’nitsu)—”The day after tomorrow, I’m going to a hospital.”
• Квартал (kvartal)—”quarter”
  This word is seldom used in actual conversations, but you’ll come across it if you work with Russian-speaking colleagues. Business goals are usually set for a quarter (among monthly and yearly goals).
• Какое сегодня число? (Kakoye segodnya chislo?)—”What date is it today?”
  The answer could be:
  • Сегодня двадцать девятое июня (Segodnya dvadtsat’ devyatoye iyunya)—”Today is the 29th of June.”

• Какого числа начинаются занятия? (Kakogo chisla nachinayutsya zanyatiya?)—”When does the study start?”

  The answer could be:

  • Занятия начинаются первого сентября (Zanyatiya nachinayutsya pervogo sentyabrya)—”The study starts on the 1st of September.”

    Interesting fact. The 1st of September is called День Знаний (Den’ Znaniy) which means “Knowledge Day.” Every year on the 1st of September, Russian students have the first school/university day. If you’re lucky to be in Russia on this day, you’ll probably see a lot of school children formally dressed and with flowers to give to their teachers.

• Какого числа ты выходишь на работу? (Kakogo chisla ty vykhodish’ na rabotu?)—”When will you get back to work?” or “When is your first day at work?” depending on the context.

  The answer could be:

  • Я выхожу на работу тридцать первого ноября (Ya vykhozhu na rabotu tridtsat’ pervogo noyabrya)—”I will start working on the 31st of November.”

• Когда у тебя день рождения? (Kogda u tebya den’ rozhdeniya?)—”When is your birthday?”

  The answer could be:

  • Мой день рождения одиннадцатого апреля (Moy den’ rozhdeniya odinnadtsatogo aprelya)—”My birthday is on the 11th of April.”
  • Семнадцатого января (Semnadtsatogo yanvarya)—”On the 17th of January.”

• Какой сегодня день недели? (Kakoy segodnya den’ nedeli?)—”What weekday is it today?”

  The answer could be:

  • Сегодня вторник (Segodnya vtornik)—”Today is Tuesday.”

• В каком месяце ты собираешься приехать? (V kakom mesyatse ty sobirayesh’sya priyekhat’?)—”What month are you planning to come?”

  The answer could be:

  • В феврале (V fevrale)—”In February.”

If you wanna dig even deeper, you can learn how to reschedule an appointment or what to do when you arrive late for the appointment.

4. Conclusion: How RussianPod101 Can Help You Master Russian

So, now you know how to talk about dates, how to make appointments, and how to tell someone when your birthday is (so no one has an excuse not to prepare a gift for you). ;-)

If the Russian language and Russian culture make you excited and you wanna tell more about yourself in Russian, check out our MyTeacher program for Russian-learners. You can set your own goals and reach them fast with our professional native Russian teachers. You can also choose a specially prepared program to pass Russian language exams and to achieve the level of Russian you need.

And remember, keep the learning process fun and exciting—that way, you’ll keep moving forward no matter what difficulties you meet on your way.

Before you go, let us know how you feel about reading dates in Russian now. And why not practice Russian dates by telling us today’s date in Russian in the comments section? ;) We look forward to hearing from you!