How to Accept and Refuse in Russian | Different Ways to Say 'Yes' and 'No' in Russian

If you have been learning Russian for some time, you already know how to say 'yes' and 'no' in Russian. Yes is 'да' and no is 'нет'. But the problem is that Russian natives can use many other ways to accept and refuse something in Russian, including slang and idiomatic Russian expressions. Therefore, you should absolutely know them because they are not often easy to understand. In this post, I have collected the most common ways to say 'yes' and 'no' in Russian that you absolutely need to feel confident speaking Russian with natives. You can first watch a video lesson 'How to Accept and Refuse in Russian | Different Ways to Say 'Yes' and 'No' in Russian' and find a summary just below.

Video lesson: How to Accept and Refuse in Russian

Different ways to say 'yes' in Russian

There are several ways to say 'Yes' in Russian apart from a well-known Да. Here are some good alternatives:

• Ла́дно [лАдна] - Fine

• Хорошо́ [харашО] - Good

• Коне́чно [кан'Эшна] - Of course

• Идёт [ид'От] - alright, deal

• Отли́чная иде́я [атлИчнай'а ид'Эй'а] - Excellent idea

• Я согла́сен [й'а саглАсин] - I agree (for a man)

• Я согла́сна [й'а саглАсна] - I agree (for a woman)

• Договори́лись [дагаварИлис'] - It's a deal, we agreed

• С удово́льствием [судавОл'ствий'эм] - With pleasure

• Почему́ бы и нет? [пачимУбы ин'Эт] - Why not?

Here are some short situations in Russian that illustrate these expressions to accept something in Russian:

Image taken from Storyset

Image taken from Storyset

Translation:

- Would you like one more cup of coffee?

- Why not?

Image taken from Storyset

Translation:

- Would you like (do you desire) hot tea?

- With pleasure!

Image taken from Storyset

Translation:

- Do you agree to marry me?

- I agree!

Different ways to say 'no' in Russian

There are several ways say 'No' in Russian apart froma well-known Нет. Here are some good alternatives:

• Меня́ э́то не интересу́ет [минА Эта ниинтирисУйит] - I am not into this stuff

• Ни за что́ [низаштО] - Not in a million years.

• Ни в ко́ем слу́чае [нифкОйим слУчии] - By no means

• Не́тушки [нЭтушки] - No way!

• Плоха́я иде́я [плахАйа ид'Эй'а] - Bad idea

• Я не уве́рен [й'а ниувЭрин] - I am not sure (for a man)

• Я не уве́рена [й'а ниувЭрина] - I am not sure (for a woman)

• Нет жела́ния [нэт жылАнийа] - I have no desire

• Я не хочу́ [йа нихачУ] - I don't want to

• Неохо́та [ниахОта] - I don't feel like

Here are some short situations in Russian that illustrate these expressions to accept something in Russian:

Image taken from Storyset

Translation:

- What about going to the bar after work?

- I have no desire today!

Image taken from Storyset

Translation:

- Let's better watch a soap opera!

- No way!

We have covered the most common ways to accept and refuse in Russian. Your goal now is to learn and practice these Russian words and expressions so that you can use them straight away when needed. You can find the audio files with pronunciation of these Russian phrases in my free guide 'Essential Russian Words and Expressions to Understand Spoken Russian'.

This guide also contains audio files so that you can listen to these phrases on the go: while driving, walking, doing sport or brushing your teeth. Make sure that you repeat these phrases yourself and try to imitate my accent.

It's also very important to know how to pronounce Russian words correctly as not every Russian letter is pronounced the same way as it's written. There are certain Russian pronunciation rules that are really easy to learn.

And don't forget to learn different ways to wish something nice in Russian.

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Hello! My name is Mila and I am a founder of Hack Your Russian language platform. You can find me here:

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