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A1How to saykak pa-rússki

How to say “How do you say… in Russian?” in Russian

Four syllables that will teach you more Russian than any app: point, ask, repeat.

Quick answer

Как по-ру́сски…?

kak pa-rússki — the shortest version has no verb at all

The options

Как по-ру́сски «cheese»?How do you say “cheese” in Russian?
Как сказа́ть э́то по-ру́сски?How do you say this in Russian?
Как пра́вильно?What’s the correct way?
Как э́то пи́шется?How is that spelled?
Повтори́те, пожа́луйста, ещё раз.Please say it once more.

по-ру́сски, not на ру́сском

Languages as adverbs take по-: по-ру́сски, по-англи́йски, по-неме́цки. These are adverbs, so they never change. На ру́сском языке́ also exists and is more formal — used for books and documents rather than speech.

Chaining the follow-ups

Once you have the word, lock it in: Как э́то пи́шется? (how is it spelled), Где здесь ударе́ние? (where is the stress). Asking about the stress marks you out as a serious learner — and it is the one thing dictionaries on a phone often hide.

What you hear back

Сыр.Cheese.
По-ру́сски э́то «ква́с».In Russian that’s “kvass”.
Пи́шется че́рез «о».It’s spelled with an о.
Ударе́ние на второ́й слог.The stress is on the second syllable.

Typical mistakes

Как на ру́сском «cheese»?

Как по-ру́сски «cheese»?

Speech uses the по- adverb.

по ру́сски

по-ру́сски

It is written with a hyphen, always.

Check yourself

Which is correct?

Languages in speech use по- plus a hyphen.

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