How to Say ‘How Are You’ in Russian

The question ‘How are you?’ is the most widespread conversation-opener. Here is your quick guide on how to say ‘how are you’ in Russian. The most common and neutral way to say ‘how are you’ in Russian is

kak dela?

. A bit more personal are

kak ty?

 and

kak pozhivaesh?

, when talking to close friends or family members, and

kak vy?

 and

kak pozhivaete?

, suitable for conversations with people you are less familiar with. If you want to add a casual philosophical touch to your 'how are you' in Russian, ask

kak zhizn?

, which translates as ‘how is life?’. Some Russians prefer to replace the word

zhizh

 with the personal pronoun

ona

 and ask

kak ona?

, which stands for ‘how is it?’, but it is not perceived as an accepted standard way of saying ‘how are you’ in Russian by all. However if you like the pattern, you may just change 

ona

 to

ono

 and say

kak ono?

—but mind that it is rather colloquial and usually refers to something one is occupied with right now rather than life in general and will translate as ‘how is it going?’.