Russian - Basic Vocabulary

Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet, which has 33 letters. It looks intimidating at first, but most learners can read it within a week or two – and every word in this list comes with a Latin transliteration, so you can start right away.

The good news: Russian has no articles, so there is no “a” or “the” to worry about. A word like дом (dom) simply means “house”, “a house” or “the house” depending on context.

🔢

Numbers

🎨

Colors

🦁

Animals

👥

People

📦

Objects

🍽️

Food

🕒

Time

🏃

Verbs

✨

Adjectives

🔗

Connectors

👨‍💼

Professions

1. Numbers

Learn to count and express quantities with basic numerals, cardinal and ordinal numbers, and numerical expressions

ноль

nol'

zero

один

odin

one

два

dva

two

три

tri

three

четыре

chetyre

four

пять

pyat'

five

шесть

shest'

six

семь

sem'

seven

восемь

vosem'

eight

девять

devyat'

nine

десять

desyat'

ten

одиннадцать

odinnadtsat'

eleven

двенадцать

dvenadtsat'

twelve

тринадцать

trinadtsat'

thirteen

четырнадцать

chetyrnadtsat'

fourteen

пятнадцать

pyatnadtsat'

fifteen

шестнадцать

shestnadtsat'

sixteen

семнадцать

semnadtsat'

seventeen

восемнадцать

vosemnadtsat'

eighteen

девятнадцать

devyatnadtsat'

nineteen

двадцать

dvadtsat'

twenty

тридцать

tridtsat'

thirty

сорок

sorok

forty

пятьдесят

pyat'desyat

fifty

шестьдесят

shest'desyat

sixty

семьдесят

sem'desyat

seventy

восемьдесят

vosem'desyat

eighty

девяносто

devyanosto

ninety

100

сто

sto

hundred

тысяча

tysyacha

thousand

миллион

million

2. Colors

Explore basic and advanced colors, shades, and descriptive terms for talking about the visual world around you

⚪

белый

belyy

white

⚫

черный

chernyy

black

🔴

красный

krasnyy

red

🔵

синий

siniy

blue

🟡

желтый

zheltyy

yellow

🟢

зеленый

zelenyy

green

🟣

фиолетовый

fioletovyy

purple

🟤

коричневый

korichnevyy

brown

🟠

оранжевый

oranzhevyy

orange

🌸

розовый

rozovyy

pink

⭐

золотой

zolotoy

gold

🌑

серебряный

serebryanyy

silver

☁️

серый

seryy

grey

3. Animals

Discover vocabulary for domestic pets, farm animals, wild creatures, and exotic species from around the world

🐶

собака

sobaka

dog

🐱

кошка

koshka

cat

🐴

лошадь

loshad'

horse

🐮

корова

korova

cow

🐷

свинья

svin'ya

pig

🐦

птица

ptitsa

bird

🐟

рыба

ryba

fish

🐭

мышь

mysh'

mouse

🦊

лиса

lisa

fox

🐇

кролик

krolik

rabbit

🐻

медведь

medved'

bear

🐼

панда

panda

🐨

коала

koala

🐘

слон

slon

elephant

🐢

черепаха

cherepakha

turtle

🦒

жираф

zhiraf

giraffe

🦆

утка

utka

duck

🕷️

паук

pauk

spider

4. People

Learn words for immediate and extended family members, relationships, and terms for describing different types of people

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

семья

sem'ya

family

🧔

мужчина

muzhchina

man

👩

женщина

zhenshchina

woman

👦

мальчик

mal'chik

boy

👧

девочка

devochka

girl

👶

ребенок

rebenok

child

👨‍🦳

отец

otets

father

👩‍🦳

мать

mat'

mother

👴

дедушка

dedushka

grandfather

👵

бабушка

babushka

grandmother

🧑‍🦰

брат

brat

brother

👩‍🦱

сестра

sestra

sister

🧑

друг

drug

friend

👥

люди

lyudi

people

🙋

человек

chelovek

person

5. Objects

Build vocabulary for everyday items, household objects, tools, and common things you encounter in daily life

🏠

дом

dom

house

🏢

здание

zdaniye

building

🏫

школа

shkola

school

🏪

магазин

magazin

store

🛣️

дорога

doroga

road

🌆

город

gorod

city

🌳

дерево

derevo

tree

💧

вода

voda

water

☀️

солнце

solntse

sun

☁️

облако

oblako

cloud

📚

книга

kniga

book

🖊️

ручка

ruchka

pen

📱

телефон

telefon

phone

🔑

ключ

klyuch

key

🚗

машина

mashina

car

6. Food

Master vocabulary for meals, snacks, beverages, cooking ingredients, and different types of cuisine from various cultures

🍎

яблоко

yabloko

apple

🍌

банан

banan

banana

🍞

хлеб

khleb

bread

🧀

сыр

syr

cheese

🥩

мясо

myaso

meat

🥛

молоко

moloko

milk

☕

кофе

kofe

coffee

🍵

чай

chay

tea

💧

вода

voda

water

🍺

пиво

pivo

beer

🍷

вино

vino

wine

🍽️

еда

yeda

food

🍳

яйцо

yaytso

egg

🍚

рис

ris

rice

🥕

овощи

ovoshchi

vegetables

7. Time

Learn to express time concepts including days of the week, months, seasons, clock times, and temporal expressions

☀️

день

den’

day

🌙

ночь

nochʹ

night

⏰

час

chas

hour

🗓️

неделя

nedelya

week

📅

месяц

mesyats

month

🗓️

год

god

year

🗓️

понедельник

ponedel'nik

Monday

🗓️

вторник

vtornik

Tuesday

🗓️

среда

sreda

Wednesday

🗓️

четверг

chetverg

Thursday

🗓️

пятница

pyatnitsa

Friday

🗓️

суббота

subbota

Saturday

🗓️

воскресенье

voskresen'ye

Sunday

🌅

утро

utro

morning

🌆

вечер

vecher

evening

🕛

сейчас

seychas

now

🔜

скоро

skoro

soon

🕒

время

vremya

time

8. Verbs

Essential action words and verbs for describing activities, states of being, and both physical and mental actions

🗣️

говорить

govorit'

to speak

🚶

ходить

khodit'

to walk

🏃

бежать

bežat'

to run

🍽️

есть

yest'

to eat

🍷

пить

pit'

to drink

😴

спать

spat'

to sleep

📖

читать

chitat'

to read

✍️

писать

pisat'

to write

👀

видеть

videt'

to see

👂

слышать

slyshat'

to hear

💭

думать

dumat'

to think

🤔

знать

znat'

to know

❤️

любить

lyubit'

to love

👍

нравиться

nravit'sya

to like

👋

приходить

prikhodit'

to come

🚪

открыть

otkryt'

to open

🔒

закрыть

zakryt'

to close

💡

учить

uchit'

to learn

➕

давать

davat'

to give

💸

купить

kupit'

to buy

9. Adjectives

Expand your descriptive vocabulary with words for qualities, characteristics, emotions, and properties of things

😊

счастливый

schastlivyy

happy

😢

грустный

grustnyy

sad

😠

злой

zloy

angry

👍

хороший

khoroshiy

good

👎

плохой

plokhoy

bad

⬆️

большой

bol'shoy

big

⬇️

маленький

malen'kiy

small

🆕

новый

novyy

new

🕰️

старый

staryy

old

💯

много

mnogo

many

🤏

несколько

neskol'ko

few

🥵

горячий

goryachiy

hot

🥶

холодный

kholodnyy

cold

💪

сильный

sil'nyy

strong

👶

слабый

slabyy

weak

✨

красивый

krasivyy

beautiful

👹

уродливый

urodlivyy

ugly

✅

правильный

pravil'nyy

correct

❌

неправильный

nepravil'nyy

wrong

⚡

быстрый

bystryy

fast

10. Connectors

Master conjunctions, transitions, and linking expressions to connect ideas and create more complex, flowing sentences

➕

and

➡️

но

but

👉

или

ili

🤔

потому что

potomu chto

because

👉

так

tak

🤨

однако

odnako

however

🤔

поэтому

poetomu

therefore

➕

также

takzhe

also

🕒

когда

kogda

when

🤔

если

esli

🕒

перед

pered

before

🕒

после

posle

after

🕒

с тех пор

s tekh por

since

🕒

пока

poka

while

11. Professions

Learn vocabulary for various careers, occupations, and professional roles across different industries and sectors

👨‍🏫

учитель

uchitel'

teacher

🧑‍⚕️

доктор

doktor

doctor

👩‍💻

инженер

inzhener

engineer

👨‍🍳

шеф-повар

shef-povar

chef

🧑‍🌾

фермер

fermer

farmer

👮

полицейский

politseyskiy

police officer

🧑‍🎨

художник

khudozhnik

artist

🧑‍💼

офисный работник

ofisnyy rabotnik

office worker

🔬

учёный

uchënyy

scientist

🛒

продавец

prodavets

salesperson

Tips for learning Russian

Watch out for “false friend” letters
Some Cyrillic letters look like Latin ones but sound different: В is “v”, Н is “n”, Р is “r” and С is “s”. So вода reads “voda” (water), not “boda”.
Guess the gender from the ending
Russian nouns are masculine, feminine or neuter, and the ending usually tells you which. Words ending in a consonant are mostly masculine (дом), -а/-я mostly feminine (собака, книга) and -о/-е mostly neuter (солнце).
Learn the stress with every word
Stress in Russian can fall on any syllable and isn't marked in normal text, yet it changes how vowels sound – an unstressed о sounds like “a”, so вода is pronounced “vadá”. Listen to each word and note where the stress falls.
ё often hides as е
The letter ё (“yo”) is usually printed without its dots. ребенок (child) is actually ребёнок and pronounced “rebyónok”.

Your Russian Journey Starts Now!

Congratulations! You've just learned over 200 essential Russian words. This list is a fantastic starting point, but remember that consistency is key to true fluency.

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