How Are You in Russian? Как дела and Natural Ways to Answer

The everyday way to ask how are you in Russian is Как дела? (kak dela), pronounced kak dee-LA, with the stress on the last syllable. It works with friends, classmates and anyone you are relaxed with.

The word-by-word translation is not “how are you” though, and that difference explains a lot about how the question behaves. дела is the plural of дело, which Wiktionary’s entry for дело gives as a matter, affair or piece of business. You are asking how someone’s things are going, not how they feel.

The question in its three useful forms

Как ваши дела? (kak vashi dela) also exists and is the most formal of the set. It puts weight on your affairs specifically, so it fits a business meeting more than a corridor.

Asking how are you in Russian politely

Some guides say Как дела? is fine in every situation, including with a boss. That overstates it.

The phrase itself is not impolite, but the bare two-word version is casual by shape. Adding у вас does the same work that adding “sir” or a fuller sentence does in English: it slows the question down and marks respect.

So the practical rule follows the pronoun you would already be using. If you address the person as вы, ask Как у вас дела? If you address them as ты, Как дела? is right.

The four answers that cover most conversations

Russians answer this question with a short word far more often than with a sentence. These four handle nearly everything.

Всё хорошо (vsyo khorosho, everything is good) is a fuller version of the first one and sounds a little warmer. Note the ё in всё: it is pronounced yo, not ye, and writing it as все changes the word to “everyone”.

Нормально deserves a warning. It translates as “normal”, and English speakers often read that as cold or dismissive. In Russian it is an ordinary, unremarkable answer, closer to “fine” than to “adequate”. Nobody hears it as negative.

Handing the question back

This is the part most guides leave out, and it is what turns two vocabulary items into a conversation.

After answering, you return the question. Informally: А у тебя? (a u tebya, and with you?). Formally: А у вас? (a u vas).

The shorter А ты? works too between friends. The А at the start is doing the same job as “and” at the front of an English question, and leaving it off makes the return sound abrupt.

Treat the whole thing as one block rather than three separate phrases:

Хорошо, спасибо. А у тебя?

Say that as a unit enough times and you will stop assembling it word by word.

How much are you actually meant to say?

English speakers often ask “how are you” as a greeting that expects no real answer. Russian is not the opposite of that, but it does sit slightly further along.

Among friends, Как дела? can genuinely open a conversation. Answering with a sentence about your week is normal, not oversharing. Between people who barely know each other, or in a shop, one word closes it and everyone moves on.

The safest read is to match the length of what you receive. A one-word question gets a one-word answer. A slower, fuller question invites more.

That said, be careful with the idea that Russians never answer casually. Plenty of people say Нормально and keep walking. Context does more work than any national rule.

When the honest answer is not “good”

Phrase lists overwhelmingly give positive answers, which leaves learners stuck the moment things are ordinary or bad. Russian has a settled set for that too.

Ничего is the interesting one. It literally means “nothing”, and as an answer it lands close to “can’t complain”. The г is pronounced v here, the same quirk that turns всего into vsevo.

Не очень invites a follow-up. Say it and the other person will usually ask what is wrong, so use it when you mean it rather than as a modest default.

None of these are impolite. Russian conversation tolerates a flat or negative answer to Как дела? more readily than American English tolerates one to “how are you”, and no explanation is required unless you want to give one.

Two short exchanges

Friends passing on campus

Anton. Привет, Маша! Как дела? Masha. Привет! Нормально. А у тебя? Anton. Тоже хорошо, спасибо.

Тоже (tozhe) means “also” and is a neat way to answer without repeating the whole phrase.

A colleague you address as вы

You. Добрый день, Ирина Петровна. Как у вас дела? Irina. Спасибо, хорошо. А у вас? You. Всё хорошо.

Notice that спасибо comes first in her answer. Thanking someone for asking is common and sounds natural in either order. The Russian thank you guide covers how far that one word stretches.

Mistakes to watch for

Stressing the first syllable of дела. KAK dela sounds wrong. The stress is on the final syllable: kak dee-LA.

Using Как ты? as a neutral greeting. It reads as concerned, so asking it cheerfully every morning suggests you think something is wrong.

Answering and stopping. Without А у тебя? the exchange dies. Russians expect the question to come back.

Translating “I’m good” as a full sentence. Я хороший means “I am a good person”. The answer is just Хорошо.

Assuming Нормально is negative. It is the most common answer there is.

Three related questions you will hear

Как дела? is not the only opener in circulation, and recognising its neighbours saves you from freezing when one turns up.

Как поживаешь? (kak pozhivayesh, kak puh-zhee-VA-yesh) asks how you are getting on. It is warmer and a little more old-fashioned than Как дела?, and it suggests the asker has not seen you for a while. The вы form is Как поживаете?

Как настроение? (kak nastroyeniye, kak nas-tra-YE-nee-ye) means “how is your mood”. It is casual and asks something narrower than Как дела?, so it fits a friend who looked tired yesterday.

Что нового? (chto novogo, shto NO-vuh-vuh) is “what’s new”. It expects actual news rather than a one-word answer, so treat it as an invitation to talk. The г is again pronounced v.

All three take the same short answers. You do not need a separate reply set for each.

Where Как жизнь fits

Как жизнь? (kak zhizn, how’s life?) turns up in casual speech between friends. It is warm and slightly breezy, and it is not something to say to a stranger or in an office.

Treat it as recognition vocabulary for now. Как дела? will carry you through every situation this one covers.

Common questions

Practise the question and the answer together

The reason this phrase feels awkward at first is rarely the vocabulary. It is that learners study Как дела? and its answers as separate items, then freeze in the gap between them.

Learn the block instead: question, short answer, спасибо, question back. Once that runs on its own, you have the shape of most casual Russian openings, and you already know how the greeting before it works.

Ask it, answer it, and pass it back. That loop is the whole conversation.