The Russian days of the week may seem quite scary.
After all, they sound completely different than the English ones.
Also, if you want to say something simple as ‘’See you on Wednesday”, the word for Wednesday: среда changes to среду.
Don’t despair though.
In this guide you’ll find all the words for the days of the week in Russian + examples how they change according to the function of the day in the sentence.
Ready? Поехали!
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What are the days of the week in Russian?
Days of the week are completely different in English than in Russian.
That’s because Slavic languages have few words in common with English.
For example, in Dutch the word for monday is maandag. Almost the same, right?
In Russian, you’ll just have to learn each word by heart.
Here’s all the Russian days of the week in a table:
| Russian Word | Translation | Example |
| понедельник | Monday | Понедельник первый день недели – Monday is the first day of the week |
| вторник | Tuesday | Вторник занятой день на работе – Tuesday is a busy day at work |
| среда | Wednesday | Среда – середина недели – Wednesday is the middle of the week. |
| четверг | Thursday | четверг – день, когда я с нетерпением жду выходных – Thursday is the day I look forward to the weekend |
| пятница | Friday | Пятница означает что почти выходные – Friday means it’s almost weekend |
| суббота | Saturday | суббота первый день выходных – Saturday is the first day of the weekend |
| воскресенье | Sunday | воскресенье второй день выходных – Sunday is the second day of the weekend |
Which prepositions to use for the Russian days of the week?
Just knowing the words for the days of the week in Russian is not going to be enough to use them correctly in your speech.
No.
You cannot just say:
понедельник я иду на работу – monday I go to work
You also need to know the correct prepositions to use them.
The correct form here would be:
в понедельник я иду на работу.
There are different ways you can say the Russian days of the week.
- On monday I go to work.
- Every monday I go to work.
- From monday to friday I go to work.
- Until monday I have vacations.
And each of those prepositions uses a different case.
On Wednesday
If you want to say that you do something on a specific day, you use the Russian prepositions в. It literally means ‘to’.
But in Russian you use it to say ‘on + day of the week’.
Another thing is that you use the accusative case here.
Since days of the week are inanimate, only the feminine days change their einding.
Also, you can sometimes use the preposition на, if you mean that a specific event or situation is planned for a specific day.
On Wednesday I go to the cinema with a friend – В среду хожу в кино с другом
встреча запланирована на пятницу – the meeting is planned for Friday
Here is how you apply this to each day of the week:
| Russian Word | Translation | Example |
| в / на понедельник | On / for Monday | в понедельник я хожу в спортзал – on Monday I go to gym |
| во / на вторник | On / for Tuesday | Во вторник мой дедушка пошел в больницу – On Tuesday my granddad went to the hospital |
| в / на среду | On / for Wednesday | Вы видели своего менеджера в среду утром? – did you see your manager Wednesday morning? |
| в / на четверг | On / for Thursday | В четверг у меня выходной! – On Thursday I have a day off! |
| в / на пятницу | On / for Friday | мы запланировали вечеринку на пятницу – we planned a party for Friday |
| в / на субботу | On / for Saturday | какие у тебя планы на субботу вечером? – what are your plans for Saturday night? |
| во / на воскресенье | On / for Sunday | В воскресенье идет футбольный матч – On Sunday there is a soccer match |
One interesting thing here is also with Tuesday. As you see, the preposition в changes to во. This is a general rule if the noun after starts with a в as well. This may seem difficult, but try speaking it out loud.
You find that you pronounce the о whether you want to or not 🙂
From Monday until Friday
When you want to say FROM a day until a day, you use the 2 prepositions:
- с
- до
Both require the genitive case.
So “I work from Monday until Friday” in Russian would be:
я работаю с понедельника до пятницы
Here’s an overview of all the days of the week.
| Russian Word | Translation | Example |
| с / до понедельника | from / until Monday | Неделя начинается с понедельника – The week starts from Monday |
| с / до вторника | from / until Tuesday | Моя подписка действительна до вторника – My subscription is valid till Tuesday |
| со / до среды | from / until Wednesday | Новое правило применяется со следующей среды – The new rule applies from next Wednesday |
| с / до четверга | from / until Thursday | Я почувствовал себя плохо с четверга утром – I felt ill from Thursday morning |
| с / до пятницы | from / until Friday | у вас есть до пятницы, чтобы закончить этот проект – you have till Friday to finish this project. |
| с / до субботы | from / until Saturday | Я всегда заканчиваю домашнее задание до субботы – I always finish my homework before Saturday |
| с / до воскресенья | from / until Sunday | Начиная с воскресенья, я больше не буду пить алкоголь – Starting from Sunday, I will no longer drink alcohol |
Until, including Tuesday
If you want to emphasize that the until day really includes that day as well, you can use the prepositions по.
По requires the accusative case.
So it should be more correct to actually say:
я работаю с понедельника по пятницу
If you mean that you work from Monday to Friday (emphasize on including Friday).
Here’s an overview of how all the Russian days of the week change according to the dative case.
| Russian Word | Translation |
| по понедельник | until Monday |
| по вторник | until Tuesday |
| по среду | until Wednesday |
| по четверг | until Thursday |
| по пятницу | until Friday |
| по субботу | until Saturday |
| по воскресенье | until Sunday |
Every friday
If you want to say that you do something specific on EVERY Thursday, you still use the preposition по.
The only difference here is that the day should be in the plural form.
On Thursday I go to Russian classes – По четвергам хожу на уроки русского языка
Here’s an overview of the days of the week in Russian with по + dative plural.
| Russian Word | Translation | Example |
| по понедельникам | on Mondays | по понедельникам хожу на футбольную тренировку – on Mondays I go to soccer practice |
| по вторникам | on Tuesdays | По вторникам я занят на работе – On Tuesdays I am busy at work |
| по средам | on Wednesdays | по средам я утромвсегда покупаю чай латте – On Wednesday morning I always buy a chai latte |
| по четвергам | on Thursdays | По четвергам вечером пью пиво с друзьями – On Thursday nights I drink beer with friends |
| по пятницам | on Fridays | По пятницам мы всегда идем на вечеринку с коллегами – On Fridays we always go party with colleagues |
| по субботам | on Saturdays | По субботам у меня всегда похмелье – On Saturdays I always have a hangover |
| по воскресеньям | on Sundays | Строю планы на неделю по воскресеньям – I make plans for the week on Sundays |
Abbreviations and other helpful vocabulary
Above you can find everything you need to know about the days of the week in Russian. However, I’d like to take the opportunity here to give some additional information that will come in handy.
First, let’s take a look at all the abbreviations for the days. It’s probably obvious for most, but it doesn’t harm to see them correctly once as well.
- Пн – Monday
- Вт – Tuesday
- Ср – Wednesday
- Чт – Thursday
- Пт – Friday
- Сб – Saturday
- Вс – Sunday
Apart from the days of the week, here’s is also a list of useful vocabulary when talking about time expressions.
| Russian word | English | Example |
| выходной день | day off | у меня выходной день – I have a day off |
| рабочий день | working day | Понедельник рабочий день – Monday is a working day |
| завтра | tomorrow | Завтра будет хороший день – Tomorrow will be a nice day |
| Послезавтра | day after tomorrow | Погода будет отличной послезавтра – The weather will be amazing the day after tomorrow |
| сегодня | today | Я работаю допоздна сегодня – I’m working late today |
| вчера | yesterday | Вчера я был дома в 21.00 – Yesterday I was home at 21.00 |
| Позавчера | day before yesterday | позавчера тоже был долгий день – the day before yesterday was a long day too |
| на этой неделе | this week | на этой неделе у меня много классных планов – this week I have a lot of cool plans |
| на следующей неделе | next week | на следующей неделе я собираюсь в отпуск – next week I’m going on vacations |
| на прошлой неделе | last week | на прошлой неделе было много сумасшедших клиентов – last week had a lot of crazy customers |
| Через неделю | after a week/a week from | через неделю мы едем к морю – in a week we are traveling to the sea |
| день | day | сумасшедший день, не так ли?’ – crazy day, isn’t it? |
| Через день | every other day | через день я хожу в спортзал – every other day I go to the gym |
| неделя | week | это занятая неделя – it’s a busy week |
| месяц | month | Январь холодный месяц – January is a cold month |
| Через месяц | in a month’s time | через месяц мы получаем нашу первую зарплату – in a month we get our first salary |
| год | year | 2020 год странный – 2020 is a weird year |
Had any trouble with the days of the week? Let me know in the comments.
До понедельника!
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