Search
It's hard for us to judge how polite Russian nation is considered to be in the world, nevertheless, the fact that we still have many forms of politeness in language is unmistakable. So, let's take a look at some ways of how we can demonstrate rules of good courtesy and our politeness to one another in everyday speech.
Persistent forms of polite communication belong to speech etiquette. Being familiar with its rules lets a person behave correctly in society, be confident and feel at ease while communicating, demonstrating one's politeness and manners, what is quite important for every person living in society.
Every nation, every nationality has its own historically shaped rules of speech etiquette. Such merits as tact, courtesy, ethic and politeness are undoubtely highly-prized in Russian society. For being reputed such person, one should know what expressions of politeness can help in this.
Greeting and goodbye expressions are among the foremost of those we need to get acquainted with. Essentially, we start studying any foreign language exactly with this. These are some of the most used expressions of politeness in Russian language.
Such forms of greting as "Добрый день" /Good afternoon/, "Доброе утро" /Good morning/, "Здравствуйте" /How do you do/, "Мое почтение" /My regards/, "Добрый вечер" /Good evening/, "Приветствую Вас" /Welcome!/, "Позвольте Вас приветствовать" /Admit my greeting/. "Привет" /Hi/ don't express any thoughts, but they still remain an inceparable part of speech etiquette.
Suchlike set expressions, as a rule, don't have separate meaningful parts. Conversely, they express complete conception about certain situation. If once someone would answer "Не такое уж оно и доброе" /It isn't that good/ for your "Доброе утро!" /Good morning!/, this would be just a quibble, inasmuch as greeting "Доброе утро!" /Good morning!/ nowhere near expresses that the morning is really good. It is just set stable form of speech etiquette.
There are also some not really correct forms of greetings, and it is complicated to reffer them to speech etiquette. These are mostly such familiarities or colloquialisms as "ЗдорОво!", "ЗдорОв!" /Salve/, "Салют" /Salute/, "Приветик" /Hi there/. These wording should be avoided or used only in the circle of close friends or intimates. These are youth colloquial greetings, which could be only used in homelike atmosphere, as far as they have an argotic or slang nature.
Correct goodbye forms in Russians are the following: "До свидания!" /Good bye!/, "До скорой встречи" /See you soon/, "Приятного вечера!" /Have a nice evening/, "Доброй ночи!" /Good night!/, "Прощайте" /So long/, "Позвольте откланяться" /Let me bow out/, "Позвольте попрощаться" /Let me take farewell/, "До вечера" /See you in the evening/. These can be used in any situation. There are also informal slang forms among the goodby expressions. Those exspress certain kind of familiarity and can be used by no means always. Among them there are: "Пока" /See you/, "Бай" /Bye/, "Салют" /Salute/, "Бывай" /See you in a while/, "Всего!" /Bye-bye/. Such expressions on no account are used while communicating with little-known people.
After greeting, any communication act usually starts with acquaintanceship, that's why you should know, what acquaintance expressions can be used in Russian: "Разрешите с Вами познакомиться" /Let me get aquainted with you/, "Разрешите представиться" /Let me introduce myself/, "Позвольте отрекомендовать моего друга" /Let me introduce my friend/, "Будем знакомы", "Давайте познакомимся", "Позвольте представиться. Меня зовут" /Let me introduce myself. My name is/.
The following expressions can be also reffered to the forms of request: "Если Вам нетрудно, сделайте.." /Couldn't you do.../, "Принесите пожалуйста" /Could you bring me, please"/, "Сделайте одолжение" /Can you do me a favor/, "Если Вас не затруднит..." /If it's not too much trouble.../, "Позвольте просить Вас о помощи" /Can I ask you to help me/, "Не могу ли я попросить Вас?" /Could I ask you?/.
The forms of gratitude are: "Разрешите Вас поблагодарить" /Let me say thank you/, "От всей души благодарю Вас" /Thank you with all my heart/, "Весьма благодарен Вам за..." /Thank you greatly for.../, "Премного благодарен" /A thousand thanks/. Such an expression as "Спасибо" /Thank you/ is very neutral, and it can be used both in informal and official speech.
Inviting expressions can be the following: "Будем Рады Вас видеть на..." /We'll be glad to see you at.../, "Позвольте пригласить Вас" /Let me invite you/, "Вы окажите нам большую честь, если придете..." /We'll be very much honoured by your company/, "Приглашаем Вас на..." /We invite you to.../.
Congratulation expressions: "Позвольте Вас поздравить" /Let me congratulate you/, "Разрешите выразить Вам искренние поздравления" /Let me express my sincere congratulations/, "Искренне поздравляем Ваc" /We congratulate you sincerely/, "Горячо поздравляем Вас" /We congratulate you heartily/.
If you master speech etiquette steadily, you will be always considered well-bred, accomplished and polite person. People will reach out for communicating with you, and the circle of your friends and acquaintance will grow fast.
