Learn Top 10 Russian Holiday Greetings: Phrases & Audio

 

Hi there!

Holiday Greetings are very important in any language. If you are learning Russian, then you should be able to talk about holidays with natives. You do it in English, right? So, let’s learn it in Russian.

So today, you’ll learn Russian Holiday Greetings. In Russia, holidays are very important; people adore them. Here are the best Holiday Greetings in Russian that you should know.

Listen to This Russian Audio Lesson on Holidays

While you read and learn about Russian Holiday Greetings, listen to this Audio lesson too. You will learn all the various greetings and how to say them in Russian. Best of all, you get to hear native pronunciation. Just press the play button on the player below.

  • Russian Holiday Greetings and Wishes for the Holiday Season by RussianPod101

This lesson came from RussianPod101 (a Russian online learning program and website).

Top 10 Russian Holiday Greetings

1. Happy holiday!

  • С праздником!
  • Pronunciation: S prazdnikom!

“С праздником!” literally means “With Holiday.”So, “c” is a preposition and means “with” and “праздник” means holiday. You can use this phrase alone or add any holiday.

russian holiday greetings

2. Happy New Year!

  • С Новым Годом!
  • Pronunciation: S Novim Godom!

“С Новым Годом!”  means Happy New Year. There is no word that means “happy” in this Russian Phrase. Literally, it means “with a New Year.” However, when you want to congratulate someone in Russian, you do often start it with the “with.”

This is similar to the phrase you learned above.

Use this Russian Holiday Greeting when the New Year starts.

russian holiday greetings

3. With the Coming Holiday!

  • С Наступающим праздником!
    • Pronunciation: S Nastupayushchim prazdnikom!
  • Поздравляю Вас (тебя) с Наступающим праздником
    • Pronunciation: Pozdravlyayu Vas (tebya) s Nastupayushchim prazdnikom

Here, you get two Russian Holiday Greetings but both mean the same thing. The first one is short and casual. The second one is a bit longer and more formal. If you want to be super formal, use “Vas” (You – plural) instead of “tebya” (You – singular.)

russian holiday greetings

Key words:

  • Наступающим: upcoming
  • праздником: holiday/celebration

4. Merry Christmas!

  • Счастливого Рождества!
  • Pronunciation: Schastlivovo Rozhdestva!

If you ever wanted to know how to say Merry Christmas in Russian, this is it.

Definitely one of the most important Russian Holiday Greetings here.

Счастливого means happy in this phrase.

russian holiday greetings

5. Warm wishes!

  • Тёплые пожелания!
  • Pronunciation: Tyopliye pozhelaniya

This is a great wish for your friend, or to a family member.

Тёплые means warm and пожелания means wishes. Easy!

russian holiday greetings

6. Have a great winter vacation!

  • Весёлых зимних каникул!
  • Pronunciation: Vesolih zimnih kanikul!

A great wish before the winter holidays or a winter vacation. For this Russian Holiday Greeeting, there actually is a word that sot of means “happy.” It’s the word “весёлый.”

It actually also means “fun” but you’re literally saying “Happy Holidays” in Russian.

russian holiday greetings

7. Happy holidays!

  • Весёлых праздников!
  • Pronunciation: Vesolih praznikov

This is one of the shorter and easier-to-say Russian Holiday Greetings.  Usually, it’s used in winter.

Again, we’re using the word “весёлый” or happy, which you learned earner.

russian holiday greetings

8. Let all your dreams come true in the New Year!

  • Пусть сбудутся все твои мечты в Новом Году!
  • Pronunciation: Pust’ sbudutsya vse tvoi mechti v Novom Godu!

You can say this to anyone; friends, family, strangers and coworkers.

russian holiday greetings

9. I hope you find your love on Valentine’s day!

  • Желаю тебе найти свою любовь в День Святого Валентина!
  • Pronunciation: Zhelayu tebe nayti svoyu lyubovʹ v Denʹ Svyatovo Valentina

This is a wish for a person who is looking for love. Obviously, you should save this one for Valentine’s day.

russian holiday greetings

10. Wish you all the best today (this holiday)

  • Всего наилучшего в этот праздник!
  • Pronunciation: Vsevo nailuchshego v etot praznik

This just a short formal congratulation.

russian holiday greetings

Now that you learned some Russian Holiday Greetings, what’s next?

You should also know the most important Russian holidays.

Top Russian Holidays

In this third part, you’ll learn about Russian holidays and how to say them in Russian. Here is the list of the brightest Russian holidays and their dates:

January 1: New Year in Russia is a state holiday and a day off.

The New Year holidays last for an average of 8-10 days, and end after the Christmas holidays.

  • New Year
    • Новый Год
    • Novy God.

January 7: Christmas. It’s from the night of January 6th until the 7th. Orthodox Russia celebrates the Nativity of Christ.

  • Christmas
    • Рождество Христово
    • Rozhdestvo hristovo

January 14: Old New Year.

Two weeks after the celebration of the New Year, from the night of January 13 to January 14, the New Year is knocking at our door again.

  • Old New Year
    • Старый Новый год
    • Stariy Noviy god.

January 19: The baptism of the Lord is celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church on this day.

  • The baptism of the Lord
    • Крещение Господне
    • Kreshcheniye Gospodne.

February 14: Valentine’s Day.

This romantic holiday – Valentine’s Day – is celebrated on February 14th.

  • Valentine’s Day
    • День Святого Валентина
    • Den’ Svyatogo Valentina

February 20: Maslenitsa.

This is a holiday that has been preserved since pagan times. It is celebrated during the week before the Great Lent.

  • Maslenitsa
    • Масленица
    • Maslenitsa

April 1: April Fools’ Day (Fool’s Day).

  • April Fools’ Day
    • первого апреля
    • pervovo aprelya

April 16: Easter.

This bright holiday of the resurrection of Christ, Easter, came from Byzantium in the late 9th century. Since then, throughout Russia, this Christian holiday has been widely and solemnly celebrated.

  • Easter
    • Пасха
    • Paskha

May 9: Victory Day is a military holiday where people pay respect to the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

  • Victory Day
    • День Победы
    • Den’ Pobedy.

• June 12: The country is celebrating an important state holiday – the Day of Russia, or Declaration of State Sovereignty.
The Day of Russia – День России Den’ Rossii.

September 1: Knowledge Day in Russia.

Julius Caesar said: “Knowledge is power.” And Knowledge Day is always an exciting holiday for everyone. Probably, there is no person in Russia who would not remember the day of the “first bell”, his first teacher, school friends with whom he started.

  • Knowledge Day
    • День Знаний
    • Den’ znaniy

November 26: Mother’s Day in Russia.

There is probably no country where Mother’s Day is not celebrated.

  • Mother’s Day
    • День матери
    • Den’ materi

Now you know all the major Russian holidays and Russian Holiday Greetings!

Extra lessons:

– written by the Main Junkie

P.S. I highly recommend this for Russian learners. If you REALLY want to learn Russian with 1,000s of fun, easy audio/video lessons by real teachers – Sign up for free at RussianPod101 (click here) and start learning!

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