With the holiday season upon us, it would be nice to share some Christmas and New Year greetings in Russian. Whether you say them to your Russian Tandem partners or impress your Russian friends with a native greeting, learning how to say happy New Year in Russian and send well wishes for Christmas is a great way to embrace their culture and work towards fluency To help, here is our short guide to make sure you get it right!
One interesting thing that many people don’t realize is that the New Year celebrations in Russia are often more popular than Christmas! In fact, the New Year is the most celebrated holiday in Russia! They even have ten days of national holiday from the 31st of December to January 10th! Because of this, Russian New Year greetings are exchanged not only on January 1st, but several times both before and after. In addition to traditional well wishes of a happy New Year in Russian, many people also exchange gifts with their loved ones.
Another thing to remember is that Russia celebrates Christmas after the New Year, on January 7th. This is because of Russia’s affiliation with the Orthodox church.. So, instead of wishing someone a Merry Christmas and happy new year, in Russian, they say «С Новым Годом и c Рождеством» (Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!).
With that information out of the way, let’s dive into some Russian New Year greetings and how to say Merry Christmas in Russian!
New Year Wishes in Russian
Many Russians are superstitious, so they believe that it’s bad luck to celebrate something that hasn’t happened yet. That’s why, leading up to the New Year, Russians say «C Наступающим Новым годом» or simply «C Наступающим!» meaning “Happy Coming New Year!” This is a very popular way to share happy New Year wishes in Russian before January 1st.
Once the new year starts, you can say «С Новым Годом!» (Happy New Year!) or the extended version «С новым годом, с Новым счастьем!» (Happy New year, Happy New Happiness!). Both of these are popular ways to say happy New Year in Russian.
If you want to send someone a greeting card, email, or text message, the usual formula to wish someone a happy new year in the Russian language is «Поздравляю Вас (тебя) с (наступающим) Новым Годом!», meaning “I congratulate you on the arrival of the New Year!”
Furthermore, if you wanted to add a little more love to your greeting, you can use «Желаю Вам (тебе)» (I wish you) followed by one of the many commonly used wishes:
Крепкого здоровья – good health
Семейного счастья – family happiness (for people with a family)
Радости - joy
Любви – love
Успехов во всех начинаниях – success in all your endeavors
Успехов в работе (учебе) – success in your work (studies)
Исполнения всех желаний в новом году – fulfilment of all your dreams in the new year
Удачи – good luck
Побольше радостных событий в новом году – a lot of joyful events in the new year
How to Give a Russian Christmas Greeting
Just as there are different ways to wish someone a happy New Year around the world, Christmas greetings also vary by country. Unlike in Russian, Christmas greetings in German, for example, tend to be more popular than New Year’s greetings. However, knowing how to give someone a proper Russian Christmas greeting is still essential when mastering the language!
When you want to wish someone a Merry Christmas in Russian, you can use the phrase «С Рождеством» or «Счастливого Рождества». Both of these directly translate to “Merry Christmas.” If someone says either of these to you, you can respond with a simple «И Вас также», which means “you, too” using formal Russian. You can also respond informally to friends and family by saying «И тебя также».
Now that you know the most common Christmas and New Year greetings, it’s time to put them into practice with your Tandem partner!
What is a Tandem partner? We’re glad you asked! So, you know how it’s hard to immerse yourself in the language you’re learning without actually being in the country and chatting with native speakers on a day-to-day basis?
With Tandem, it’s so easy to find language exchange partners to talk to in 300+ languages, including Russian. Practice your pronunciation by sending voice messages or by hopping on a video or audio call with your Tandem partner. Practice grammar and vocabulary by using our in-app correction and translation features.
We might be a little biased, but we believe Tandem is the best way to learn Russian online and it’s certainly a fun way to practice giving Russian happy New Year greetings. With millions of members in the online community, you’re bound to find someone with similar interests, ensuring your language learning remains motivating. Try Tandem for free and take your Russian pronunciation to the next level!
So, to all our Tandem members, we wish you a Happy Coming New Year!
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