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First 50 Russian Words Every Beginner Should Learn

Lalo Team·Updated April 17, 2026·3 min read

Start your Russian journey with the 50 most essential high-frequency words. These cover roughly 40% of everyday conversation.

These 50 words cover ~40% of everyday Russian

Pronouns(17)

я

I

/ja/

он

he

/on/

это

this, it is

/ˈɛtə/

его

his, him

/jɪˈvo/

они

they

/ɐˈnʲi/

она

she

/ɐˈna/

все

all, everyone, everything

/fsʲe/

вы

you (formal/plural)

/vɨ/

мы

we

/mɨ/

себя

oneself

/sʲɪˈbʲa/

меня

me (genitive/accusative of я)

/mʲɪˈnʲa/

тот

that (one)

/tot/

который

which, who, that

/kɐˈtorɨj/

мой

my, mine

/moj/

мне

to me, for me (dative of я)

/mnʲe/

ты

you (informal singular)

/tɨ/

весь

all, entire, whole

/vʲesʲ/

Core Verbs(4)

было

was, it was

/ˈbɨlə/

был

was (masculine)

/bɨl/

быть

to be

/bɨtʲ/

сказать

to say, to tell

/skɐˈzatʲ/

Adverbs(6)

как

how, as, like

/kak/

так

so, thus, like this

/tak/

ещё

still, yet, more

/jɪˈɕːo/

только

only, just

/ˈtolʲkə/

уже

already

/ʊˈʐɛ/

когда

when

/kɐɡˈda/

Prepositions(11)

в

in, into, at

/v/

на

on, at, to

/na/

с

with, from

/s/

к

to, toward

/k/

по

along, by, according to

/po/

за

behind, for, beyond

/za/

от

from, of

/ot/

у

at, by, near; (possession)

/u/

из

from, out of

/ɪs/

о

about, concerning

/o/

для

for

/dlʲa/

Connectors(5)

и

and

/i/

что

what, that

/ʂto/

а

and, but, while

/a/

но

but

/no/

то

then, that

/to/

Numbers(1)

один

one, alone

/ɐˈdʲin/

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