9 Easy Ways How to Say Thank You in Russian (For Beginners)

When I traveled to Moscow for the first time in 2016, I was nervous. My Russian was horrible, and I only knew a couple 100 words and phrases. But I was glad to learn this was enough to connect with native speakers. And if there’s ONE SINGLE word that made the difference, it was learning how to say thank you in Russian.

Why?

Because saying thanks is a sign of goodwill.

• It shows people you appreciate them.
• It avoids confrontation.
• It makes it easier to connect with native Russian speakers.

And that’s what travel is all about.

Now, in this article you’ll find lots of ways to say thanks in Russian.

Some are informal.

Some are formal.

Some are commonly used.

Some are infrequently used.

So you do NOT need to learn all these words. But I recommend you read through the entire article so that you learn to recognize several ways of thanks in Russian.

Here’s an overview:

• Most common way of thanking someone: спаси́бо
• Thanking someone specifically: спаси́бо вам/тебе́
• Thanks a lot: спаси́бо большо́е
• Thank you very much: спаси́бо огро́мное
• I am grateful: я благода́рен
• I thank you: я благодарю́ вас
• Childish way of saying thank you: спаси́бочки
• I appreciate your help: я ценю́ ва́шу по́мощь
• You are very kind: Вы о́чень до́бры
• Thanks for helping: спаси́бо за по́мощь

Continue reading to find out in which situation to use each of these words. This is important so you don’t say mess up by saying an informal thanks to for example a police officer.

How to say “thank you” in Russian?

Below you will find 9 common words and phrases to say thank you in Russian.

I recommend you choose one or two to practice. It’s much better to say one word consistently correct, than to try and stutter and choose the ‘perfect’ one for each situation.

Thank you in Russian – спасибо (spasibo)

So, you’ve decided you want to learn Russian. The most common phrase to thank someone and show you gratitude is:

Спасибо.

The great thing about this word is that you can say it in any situation. Formal situation? You can thank the police officer when he’s checking your driving license. Or say thank you to the doctor who just did a medical check-up.

Informal situation? You can say спасибо to close friends when they pass you the salt on the table. Or to someone much younger than you who said “bless you” when you needed to sneeze.

It also doesn’t matter if you want to thank one specific person or a group of people. Спасибо works in ALL siturations. So if you want to maximize results for the effort put in, this is the best way to say thank you in Russian. It’s simple to learn, easy to pronounce and you can use it in every single situation.

Thank YOU in Russian – спасибо Вам/тебе (spasibo vam/tebye)

If you want to add a modifier to спасибо, and direct your gratitude at someone, you can say the following:

• спасибо тебе – thank you (informal)
• спасибо вам – thank you (formal or plural)
• спасибо ему/ей/им – thank him/her/them

This way of saying thank you in Russian adds a personal touch. You’re not just randomly saying thank you, but you’re thanking that person. Adding this personal modifier makes it stronger.

Thanks a lot / thank you so much – спасибо большое / большое спасибо (spasibo bolshoye / bolshoye spasibo)

If you want to make the phrase thank you in Russian stronger and express more gratitude, you can add the word “big” to it. It doesn’t matter if you add it in front or after. Спасибо большое and большое спасибо are both correct.

This translates to “thanks a lot” or “thank you so much”. Just like with a regular thank you, you can direct it to the person you want to thank to make it more specific. Then you get спасибо вам большое for example.

Thank you very much – спасибо огромное / огромное спасибо (spasibo ogromnoe)

Огромное means “huge”. But this phrase is translated as ‘thank you very much’. So if you say this you are really grateful. Where the previous form could still be used in formal situations, it’s best not to use this in too formal situations. Огромное спасибо is like большое спасибо, but stronger.

I am grateful – я благодарен (ya blagodaren)

This phrase translates to “I am grateful to you”. It has a more authentic and formal connotation, so you wouldn’t say it to close friends and family. You would say this in a formal situation if someone did something important for you.

Good to know is that you say благодарен for males and благодарна for females. You can also add the modifier очень if you want to up the gratitude aspect: я очень благодарен – I a very grateful.

I thank you – я благодарю Вас (ya blagodaryu bas)

Благодарить comes from 2 older words in the Russian language:

• благо – blessing
• дарить – to give (as a present)

So if you combine each word it’s a way to say thank you, in the form of a blessing.

Благодарю is the conjugation of the verb for the first person, so this word means something along the lines of “I give you a blessing”. You can also use this to thank a close friend or a group of people:

• благодарю вас: this is the formal or plural way.
• благодарю тебя: say this to a friend.

Though over time it has lost a bit of this meaning, it’s still considered a formal way of thanking someone and expressing gratitude. So you don’t need this way to say thank you in Russian. But it’s good to know it when someone says it to you.

Thankies – спасибочки (spasibochki)

Let’s switch to a super informal thanks, you can use the word спасибочки. It’s a regular thank you but in the diminutive form. It’s something you only say to super close friends or family. But I wouldn’t recommend adults saying this.

I appreciate your help – я ценю Вашу помощь (ya tsenyu Vashu pomoshch’)

If someone offered help, and you want to express your gratitude, you can say the phrase я ценю Вашу помощь. It’s a formal way of thanking someone for their help.

You are very kind – Вы очень добры (Vy ochen’ dobry)

If you want to say that someone is very kind to help you, you can say the phrase “Вы очень добры”. And since adjectives in the Russian language change depending on the noun of the person they’re describing, here are some other forms:

• ты очень добр (male informal)
• ты очень добра (female informal)

Thanks for helping – спасибо за помощь (spasibo za pomoshch’)

If you want to thank someone for their help, but a little less formal than the previous phrase, you can say this phrase.

If you add “за помощь” it means “for your help”. So you can also use this now to thank for other things such as:

• спасибо за машину – thank you for the car
• спасибо за ужин – thank you for the dinner

I thank you from my whole soul – благодарю от всей души (blagodaryu ot vsey dushi)

If you have a reason to be super grateful and want to thank someone from whole your heart/soul, say this phrase.

For example, if you had visa problems and you were risking getting deported, and someone fixed it. In that case a “благодарю от всей души”.

For that reason, it’s not as commonly used. And likely as a foreigner who just started to learn Russian, people won’t expect this from you. If you’re already more intermediate, you can also say this in a joking manner if someone does something small for you. But be sure to have a smile on your face, and make it clear you’re joking.

3 Simple ways to say “you’re welcome” in Russian

You’re not the only person to say thank you in a 2-way conversation. If you’re communicating with Russians, you’ll often have people saying one of the above phrases to you.

So in those cases, it’s good to be able to respond adequately. Below are 3 phrases you can respond with to say you’re welcome in Russian.

“You’re welcome” in Russian – пожалуйста (pozhaluysta)

This is the easiest way to reply. If someone says “thank you very much” in Russian, just reply with a simple пожалуйста. This is the easiest and most common way of replying.

“My pleasure” – не за что (nya za chto)

This phrase translates to “not for what”. A better way to feel the meaning of this phrase would be “ah, it’s nothing”. You can say this phrase if you feel someone ‘overthanks’ you. If they’re super grateful, but the thing you did wasn’t any effort for you.

I recommend you avoid this because it has a bit of a snobby connotation. As if you don’t accept the person’s gratitude, and want to tone it down.

“happy to help” – рад помочь (rad pomoch’)

You can also answer by saying that you were happy to help. “Happy to help” is the translation of рад помочь. And you can use it whenever you are really happy to help someone.

Рад помочь is the male version. So if you’re a female, say the phrase “рада помочь”

Which words to learn?

Now you know how to say thank you in Russian. I recommend you just focus first on saying спасибо. It’s the easiest way to say thanks. And you can use it in any situation.

After that, you can learn to use some modifiers, such as огромное, большое, Вам, or тебе. And if you want, you can call it quits here if you’re just learning a bit of Russian for fun.

If you’re serious about learning the Russian language and want to speak it well (so not just with friends and family), you can put effort into learning more forms. You can learn forms such as “я очень благодарен” or “спасибо за помощь”.

In the end, there are plenty of ways to say thank you in Russian. The most important part is that you can recognize them when someone says them to you. And that you can reply with one of them yourself.

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