Exclamatory Commands, Wishes, and Curses

This page collects the emotionally loaded exclamations that push, wish, or curse — the ones that come out under pressure, in excitement, or in frustration. Three things make them distinctive for an English speaker. First, Russian builds standalone wishes and curses out of бы, пусть, and чтоб(ы) that have no main clause at all — a subordinate-looking fragment stands on its own as a complete utterance. Second, the longing-wish Скоре́е бы! ("if only it were sooner!") packs into two words what English needs a whole clause for. Third, Russian everyday speech is saturated with religious-origin exclamations (Бо́же мой!, Го́споди!, Сла́ва Бо́гу!) that are now almost entirely secular emotive noises — recognizing them as "oh my God / thank God" rather than literal prayer is essential.

Emphatic commands and urging

These push someone to act, hard. The workhorse is Дава́й! — literally "give!", but used as "Come on! / Go on! / Let's go!". Doubled for extra pressure: Дава́й-дава́й! ("Come on, come on! / Move it!"). Pure urging of speed: Скоре́е! / Быстре́е! ("Quick! / Faster!"). The cheering "Forward! / Go!" is Вперёд! And Ну же! is an impatient "Come on already!"

At the harsh end is Пошёл вон! ("Get out! / Get lost!") — a rude, angry dismissal. Note it is built from the past tense (пошёл "went", masc.; пошла́ to a woman, пошли́ to several), not the imperative — a frozen idiom that orders someone to "be gone". Use it knowingly; it is genuinely rude (informal, bordering on aggressive).

Standalone wishes with бы, пусть, and чтоб

Here is the structurally surprising part. Russian lets a subordinate-shaped clause stand alone as a full wish or curse, with the main clause simply absent (the listener supplies "I wish that…" / "May it be that…").

бы + past tense expresses a wish. Compressed to the bare longing-formula Скоре́е бы! it means "If only it were sooner! / I can't wait!" — two words for a whole English clause. Likewise Поскоре́е бы!, or Скоре́е бы ле́то! ("Roll on summer!").

пусть + present/future verb is "let / may (someone do)" — a third-person command or a wish. Пусть живёт! ("Let him live! / Long may he live!"), Пусть попро́бует! ("Let him just try!" — defiant), Пусть всё бу́дет хорошо́ ("May everything be well").

чтоб(ы) + past tense, with no main clause, is a freestanding wish or curse. As a benediction: Что́бы всё бы́ло хорошо́! ("May everything be all right!"). As an emphatic "just so you know": Чтоб ты знал! And — characteristically — as a curse: the clipped Чтоб тебя́! ("Damn you! / Confound it!"), or the fuller Чтоб тебя́ разорва́ло! These curse-fragments are quintessentially Russian.

Religious-origin exclamations (largely secularized)

These are everywhere in speech and carry no real religious weight for most speakers — they are emotive reflexes, exactly like English "oh my God" or "thank God" said by non-believers.

• Бо́же мой! / Го́споди! — "Oh my God! / Good Lord!": shock, dismay, exasperation.
• Сла́ва Бо́гу! — "Thank God! / Thank goodness!": relief.
• Дай Бог! — "God willing! / Let's hope so!": hopeful wish.
• Не дай Бог! — "God forbid! / Heaven forbid!": warding off a bad possibility.
• Ради Бо́га! — "For God's sake! / Please!": urgent plea (or annoyed "for heaven's sake").

Mild curses and exasperation

When something goes wrong, Russians reach for these. Чёрт возьми́! / Чёрт побери́! ("Damn it! / Hell!", literally "may the devil take (it)"). Ё-моё! is a soft, euphemistic "Geez! / Good grief!" (a deliberately watered-down stand-in for a stronger word). Бо́же мой! and Го́споди! double as exasperation here too. And aimed at a person: Да ну тебя́! ("Oh, come off it! / Get lost!") and Иди́ ты! — which, depending on tone, is either disbelieving "No way! / You're kidding!" or a dismissive "Get out of here!".

Toasts

A toast is its own exclamatory genre. The shortest is За тебя́! / За вас! ("To you!", за + accusative). Common longer ones: За здоро́вье! ("To your health!"), За встре́чу! ("To our meeting!"), За любо́вь! ("To love!"). The often-cited На здоро́вье! is not a toast — it means "you're welcome / enjoy" in reply to thanks for food; don't raise a glass with it.

How this differs from English

English can also drop a main clause in wishes — "If only!", "Long may he reign!" — so the idea is not alien. But Russian does it far more freely and idiomatically:

• Скоре́е бы! has no compact English twin; we must unfold it to "I really wish it would come sooner / I can't wait".
• Чтоб тебя́! as a freestanding curse maps to "damn you", but English does not generate it from a subordinate "so that…" clause the way Russian does.
• The religious exclamations line up well (Бо́же мой ≈ "oh my God", Сла́ва Бо́гу ≈ "thank God"), and crucially carry the same secularized, feeling-only force — so translate them by feeling, not by piety.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Emphatic commands: Дава́й!, Дава́й-дава́й!, Вперёд!, Скоре́е!, Ну же!; harsh dismissal Пошёл вон! (built on the past tense, genuinely rude).
• Standalone wishes/curses drop the main clause: бы
  • past (Скоре́е бы!), пусть
    • present/future (Пусть живёт!), чтоб(ы)
      • past as wish or curse (Чтоб ты знал!, Чтоб тебя́!).
• The чтоб(ы)-wish and пусть-wish always take the right verb form: чтоб(ы) → past, пусть → present/future.
• Religious exclamations are pervasive and secularized: Бо́же мой! / Го́споди! (shock), Сла́ва Бо́гу! (relief), Дай Бог! / Не дай Бог! (hope / warding off).
• Mild curses: Чёрт возьми́!, Ё-моё!, Да ну тебя́!, Иди́ ты!; toasts use За + accusative (За тебя́!), and На здоро́вье! is not a toast.