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Please, Thank You, Sorry

Three words carry most of Russian courtesy: пожа́луйста (please/you're welcome/here you go), спаси́бо (thank you), and the извини́ / прости́ pair (sorry). Each hides a small grammatical or pragmatic surprise — пожа́луйста does three different jobs, спаси́бо takes a specific preposition and case, and Russian splits "sorry" into a light and a heavy version more sharply than English does. Learning these well makes you sound markedly more native, because politeness formulas are where small errors are most audible. Below they're grouped by function, with register notes and the grammar behind each.

Please — and its two other lives

Пожа́луйста is the most overloaded courtesy word in the language. It does three distinct jobs, and only context tells them apart:

  1. "Please" — softening a request.
  2. "You're welcome" — replying to спаси́бо.
  3. "Here you are / go ahead" — when handing something over or granting permission.

Да́йте, пожа́луйста, два биле́та.

Two tickets, please. (job 1: softening a request)

Спаси́бо за по́мощь! — Пожа́луйста.

Thanks for the help! — You're welcome. (job 2: reply to thanks)

Мо́жно мне соль? — Пожа́луйста.

Can I have the salt? — Here you go. (job 3: handing it over)

Передайте, пожа́луйста, э́тот паке́т.

Please pass me that bag. (politeness particle — it can sit mid-sentence, fenced by commas)

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Because пожа́луйста covers all three, beginners overuse it as a reply to thanks and miss the more idiomatic Не за что. Both are correct, but Не за что sounds warmer and more native. As a request-softener, пожа́луйста is grammatically a particle, not a verb — it just makes an imperative polite; it doesn't change the verb's form. Spell it carefully: пожа́луйста, with the unstressed лу often swallowed in speech ("pa-zhal-sta").

Thank you

Спаси́бо is the everyday "thanks," fine at any register. Intensify it with Большо́е спаси́бо ("thank you very much") or the warmer Огро́мное спаси́бо ("thanks a million"). To thank for something, use спаси́бо за + accusative — за governs the accusative here.

Спаси́бо! Ты о́чень помо́г.

Thanks! You were a big help.

Большо́е спаси́бо за приглаше́ние.

Thank you very much for the invitation. (спаси́бо за + accusative приглаше́ние)

Спаси́бо за по́мощь и за тёплый приём.

Thanks for the help and the warm welcome. (за + accusative; repeat за for each item)

Огро́мное спаси́бо, я э́того не забу́ду.

Thanks a million, I won't forget this.

A more formal verbal thanks exists — Благодарю́ вас ("I thank you," from благодари́ть, which takes the accusative of the person) — used in speeches, on signs, and in careful written register.

Благодарю́ вас за внима́ние.

Thank you for your attention. (formal — a stock close to a presentation)

Replying to thanks

Three standard replies, by nuance:

  • Пожа́луйста — the neutral "you're welcome."
  • Не за что — literally "there's nothing to [thank] for"; the modest, very common "don't mention it."
  • На здоро́вье — "you're welcome," used chiefly in response to thanks for food or drink ("to your health").

Спаси́бо за у́жин! — На здоро́вье!

Thanks for dinner! — You're welcome! (food context — На здоро́вье)

Спаси́бо, что подвёз. — Да не за что.

Thanks for the ride. — Don't mention it. (Не за что = the humble default)

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На здоро́вье is for food and hospitality, not a general "you're welcome." Replying На здоро́вье after someone thanks you for, say, lending a pen sounds odd. Keep it for meals, drinks, and treats. The phrase is на + prepositional (здоро́вье) — "to [your] health."

Sorry — the light/heavy split

Russian draws a line English mostly ignores. Извини́те / Извини́ is the light apology and the all-purpose "excuse me" — for small things and for getting attention. Прости́те / Прости́ is heavier — "forgive me," for genuine wrongs. Прошу́ проще́ния is the formal, slightly elevated "I beg your pardon."

The -те ending marks the formal/plural (вы) form; the bare form is informal singular (ты).

Извини́те, как пройти́ к метро́?

Excuse me, how do I get to the metro? (Извини́те = getting attention, formal)

Извини́, я опозда́л на па́ру мину́т.

Sorry, I'm a couple of minutes late. (Извини́ = minor, informal)

Прости́те, я не хоте́л вас оби́деть.

Forgive me, I didn't mean to offend you. (Прости́те = heavier, a real apology)

Прости́ меня́, я был непра́в.

Forgive me, I was wrong. (Прости́ + меня́ — informal, sincere)

Прошу́ проще́ния за беспоко́йство.

I apologise for the trouble. (Прошу́ проще́ния — formal; проще́ния is genitive after проси́ть)

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Reach for Извини́те for everyday slips and to flag a question; save Прости́те for something you actually feel bad about. Using Прости́те for a tiny bump sounds overwrought, while Извини́те after a serious wrong sounds too casual. English "sorry" blurs the two — Russian doesn't.

Getting someone's attention

To stop a stranger or open a request, the opener is Извини́те, … ("excuse me…") or, more formally, Прости́те, …. It works exactly like English "excuse me, …".

Извини́те, вы не подска́жете, кото́рый час?

Excuse me, could you tell me the time? (Извини́те opens a polite request to a stranger)

Прости́те, э́то ме́сто свобо́дно?

Excuse me, is this seat free? (Прости́те — slightly more deferential opener)

How this differs from English

English uses one word per function — "please," "thank you," "sorry," "you're welcome" — each fairly fixed. Russian redistributes the workload: пожа́луйста alone covers English's "please," "you're welcome," and "here you go," so you must read context to know which is meant. Meanwhile "sorry" splits into the light Извини́те and the heavy Прости́те, a distinction English carries only with tone. And the natural reply to thanks, Не за что ("nothing to thank for"), has no neat English equivalent — "don't mention it" is the closest — so learners default to пожа́луйста and miss the more native turn. Finally, spaces where English uses a bare noun ("thanks for the ride") Russian fills with a governed case (спаси́бо за по́мощь, accusative), so the courtesy phrase doubles as case practice.

Common Mistakes

❌ Спаси́бо для по́мощи.

Wrong preposition — 'thanks for' is спаси́бо за + accusative, not для + genitive.

✅ Спаси́бо за по́мощь.

Thanks for the help.

❌ Прости́те, кото́рый час? (to flag a quick question)

Too heavy — for merely getting attention use the lighter Извини́те; Прости́те implies a real apology.

✅ Извини́те, кото́рый час?

Excuse me, what time is it?

❌ Спаси́бо! — Спаси́бо.

Wrong reply — don't echo спаси́бо. Reply with Пожа́луйста or Не за что.

✅ Спаси́бо! — Не за что.

Thanks! — Don't mention it.

❌ Извини́те, опозда́л. (to a close friend)

Register mismatch — to a friend on ты terms use the singular Извини́, not the formal Извини́те.

✅ Извини́, опозда́л.

Sorry, I'm late.

❌ Спаси́бо за у́жин! — Пожа́луйста.

Acceptable but flat — for food the idiomatic reply is На здоро́вье.

✅ Спаси́бо за у́жин! — На здоро́вье!

Thanks for dinner! — You're welcome!

Key Takeaways

  • Пожа́луйста does three jobs: "please" (request), "you're welcome" (reply), "here you go" (handing over) — context decides.
  • Спаси́бо = thanks; intensify with Большо́е/Огро́мное спаси́бо; "thanks for X" = спаси́бо за + accusative. Formal verbal thanks: Благодарю́ вас.
  • Replies to thanks: Пожа́луйста (neutral), Не за что (humble, very native), На здоро́вье (for food/drink).
  • Sorry splits: Извини́те/Извини́ (light, "excuse me," minor) vs Прости́те/Прости́ (heavy, "forgive me"); formal Прошу́ проще́ния. The -те ending = formal/plural.
  • Getting attention: open with Извини́те, … (or Прости́те, …).

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Related Topics

  • Greetings and FarewellsA1 — The full hello-and-goodbye system with register. Greetings: Здра́вствуйте (formal/plural, with a silent first в — 'zdrastvuytye'), Здра́вствуй (informal sg), Приве́т (casual), and the time-of-day До́брое у́тро / До́брый день / До́брый ве́чер. Farewells: До свида́ния (formal, 'until the meeting'), Пока́ (casual), До за́втра / До встре́чи / Уви́димся, Споко́йной но́чи. The insight English speakers miss: most farewell-wishes are frozen GENITIVES governed by an implied 'I wish you' — Споко́йной но́чи, Счастли́вого пути́, Всего́ до́брого — so they look like fragments but are genitive objects of жела́ть; and Как дела́? expects a brief positive default, not a real status report.
  • Apologizing and ThankingA2 — The fuller toolkit for saying sorry and thank you, grouped by weight and register: the Извини́(те) / Прости́(те) split (minor slip vs heavier wrong), the formal Прошу́ проще́ния (genitive after прошу́), the confession Винова́т ('my fault'), and the standard reassurances Ничего́ стра́шного / Да ничего́. On the thanks side: Спаси́бо большо́е, the formal Благодарю́, and the humble replies Не за что, Не сто́ит, На здоро́вье — with the grammar behind each.
  • Imperatives: Usage, Softening, and PolitenessB1 — A bare Russian imperative can sound blunt, so this page shows how commands actually work in conversation: ты vs. вы (Извини́ vs. Извини́те), softening with пожа́луйста and не могли́ бы вы…, 'let's' with дава́й(те), third-person пусть/пуска́й, and the crucial twist that invitations take the imperfective (Сади́тесь!, not Ся́дьте!).
  • Accusative: FormsA1 — The accusative (вини́тельный паде́ж) is the case of the direct object, but it has almost no endings of its own — only feminine -а/-я nouns get a distinct ending (-у/-ю: кни́га→кни́гу). Everything else borrows: inanimate nouns copy the nominative (стол, окно́), animate nouns copy the genitive (бра́та), and feminine -ь nouns don't move at all (ночь→ночь). The form of 'I see X' depends on X's gender and whether it is alive.
  • Making Polite RequestsB1 — How Russians soften requests so a bare imperative doesn't sound blunt: пожа́луйста, the бы-conditional (Не могли́ бы вы…?), negative-question framing (Вы не подска́жете…?), the warm imperfective imperative (Проходи́те!, Сади́тесь!), and дава́йте for joint suggestions — the counterintuitive truth being that Russian politeness is built from negation + бы + imperfective aspect, not from 'please' alone.