Learn the most common way to say "thank you"
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| Hello and welcome to Russian Survival Phrases. This course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to Russia. So join us for Russian Survival phrases. You will be surprised at how far a little Russian will go. |
| In Russian “thank you” is “спасибо”. Let`s break it down by syllable: spa-si-ba. Now, let`s hear it once again: spasiba. |
| For very special occasions when someone goes above and beyond the call of being kind, when someone is extremely generous, or for any other time you're extremely grateful, we have the following phrase to express extreme gratitude. In Russian formal way of expressing gratitude is: “благодарю Вас”. Let`s break it down by syllable: bla-ga-da-ryu Vas. Now, let`s hear it once again: “blagadaryu Vas”. The first word blagadaryu means "I am thankful or grateful". Let`s break down this word and hear it one more time: bla-ga-da-ryu and blagadaryu. To reproduce this Russian consonant "r" in blagadaryu you should roll your "r"'s. The Russian "r" resembles to Italian or Spanish “r”, but even if you don't roll it properly you will be easily understood anyway. This is followed by the polite "you" which in Russian is vy but in this sentence we use vas. So in English it would be something like "I am grateful or thankful to you". |
| Not many Russians know that the origin of the word spasiba came from 2 words: “spasi” which means “save” and “Bog” which means “God”. So, the meaning of it is: “May God keep you safe”, which was an old way of expressing gratitude. So, surprise your Russian friends by asking them the origin of the word spasiba. |
| So, to thank you for listening this lesson I will say to you: “Spasiba za vnimaniye”, which means “Thank you for your attention”. |
| The second expression blagadaryu Vas is more formal, so you can use it whenever somebody has done something important for you while shopping or in restaurants, for example, it is more natural to use “spasiba” to thank for the services. |
| Ok, to close out today`s lesson we'd like for you to practice what we`d just learnt. I will provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you are responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I`ll give you an answer. Udachi! That means “good luck”! Ok, here we go! |
| Thank you, informal……..Spasiba, spa-si-ba |
| Thank you, formal……….Blagadaryu Vas, bla-ga-da-ryu Vas, blagadaryu Vas |
| Alright, that's going to do for today. See you tomorrow, which in Russian is da zaftra! |
28 Comments
HideHello everyone and welcome to Survival Phrases. This course is designed for tourists to Russia. We hope that you find it useful. Where have you been in Russia? Where do you hope to go? Let us know!
Здравствуйте robert groulx,
Спасибо for posting and studying with us. If you have any questions, please let us know. 😄
Kind regards,
Levente
Team RussianPod101.com
thank you for the lesson transcript
“Spasiba za vnimaniye”
robert
Hello Debee,
If [o] is stressed it is pronounced as [o]. If [o] is unstressed it is pronounced as [a].
Elena
Team RussianPod101.com
Hello,
Q: why do we pronouce спасибо ( spasiba and not with o sound like spasibo) same with Благодарю Вас ( blagadaryu vas and not blagodaryu vas)? And is there a trick to remember to spell o when we say the a sound?
Спасибо?
Hello Daniel,
Thank you for your positive comment ?
Please let us know if you have any questions about Russian.
Elena
Team RussianPod101.com
I love the way this is setup and taught. Very user friendly and easily learned. Thank you for creating this.
Hi Katherina,
Why don't you try out flashcard system? Especially if you learn with lessons, that will be very helpful, as you can choose the words to revise from our vocab list and add them into your flashcards.
You can find all your flashcards at https://www.russianpod101.com/learningcenter/flashcards/flashcards
Please let us know if you have any questions,
Jae
Team RussianPod101.com
HI!
How are you?
I can`t seem to figure out how to use MyWord Bank!
I can only get the 2000 core words but those aren`t the
words that I am looking for.
There are some words and phrases that I would
really like to save somewhere and review more often
Can you help?
Thank you
Hello Ingrid Straziota,
Thank you for your comment. :smile: It is really pleasant to hear that you and your son liked Russia. If you have chance, also visit Saint Petersburg and Kiev in Ukraine. These cities are worth of seeing. :smile:
Elena
Team RussianPod101.com
I recently visited my son (Venezuelan) and his Russian wife in Moscow, and I found Russian Survival Phrases to be very useful. Of course, the word спасибо was one of the words I used the most! Спасибо! Our son drove us all around Moscow showing us the immensity of this city and its monuments. We spent a couple of days in the Dasha of our inlaws and witnessed how friendly and affectionate Russian people can be. Our son is very happy to live there and is already speaking Russian quite fluently.