To say goodbye in Russian you need two phrases. Пока (poka), said pa-KA, is the informal “bye” for friends. До свидания (do svidaniya), said da svee-DA-nee-ya, is the polite goodbye for everyone else.
The split follows the same line as Russian greetings: whether you call the person ты or вы. If you already know which greeting to use, you know which farewell to use.
The farewells worth knowing
| Russian | Transliteration | Literal sense | Register | Best used for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Пока | pa-KA | For now | Informal | Friends, family, anyone on ты terms |
| До свидания | da svee-DA-nee-ya | Until the meeting | Polite, neutral | Strangers, shops, offices, older people |
| До встречи | da VSTRYE-chee | Until the meeting | Neutral, warm | Someone you will genuinely see again |
| До завтра | da ZAF-tra | Until tomorrow | Neutral | Colleagues, classmates, daily contacts |
| Увидимся | oo-VEE-deem-sya | We will see each other | Informal | Friends, close colleagues |
| Всего доброго | vsee-VO DOB-ruh-vuh | All the best | Polite, slightly formal | Ending a call, leaving an office |
Two notes on that table. Всего доброго has a spelling trap: the г in всего and доброго is pronounced v, not g, which is why the transliteration looks nothing like the spelling. This happens in Russian genitive endings generally.
And Увидимся is a verb, not a set phrase. It means “we will see each other”, which is why it sounds relaxed and forward-looking rather than final.
Choosing a goodbye in Russian by relationship
The literal meanings make the register easy to reason about instead of memorise.
Пока means “for now”. It assumes you will see the person again soon and does not bother marking the moment. That casualness is exactly why it belongs with friends and sounds wrong to a doctor.
До свидания means “until the meeting”. It is more considered, and it treats the parting as something worth naming. Nothing about it is cold; it is simply the neutral, respectful option.
Practical assignments:
- A friend leaving your flat. Пока.
- Leaving a shop or pharmacy. До свидания.
- A classmate you will see in the morning. До завтра.
- A colleague after a video call. До свидания, or Всего доброго.
- A friend when plans are already made. До встречи or Увидимся.
- Someone much older, even if friendly. До свидания.
Pronunciation, and the two stress traps
Пока is short but easy to get wrong. The stress is on the second syllable, pa-KA, and the first vowel reduces to something close to English uh. Saying PO-ka is the most common learner slip.
До свидания stresses the da in the middle: da svee-DA-nee-ya. Say it in three chunks first:
da · svee-DA · nee-ya
Then join them. Do not clip the ending to nya; the word finishes with two light syllables. Wiktionary’s entry for до свидания gives the same stress placement.
До завтра hides a devoiced consonant: the в in завтра is pronounced f. You are saying da ZAF-tra.
Night phrases, and one that is not a goodbye
Two similar phrases get mixed up constantly.
Спокойной ночи (spokoynoy nochi, literally “peaceful night”) is the standard good night, said to someone going to sleep. It is what a parent says to a child and what you say leaving a friend’s house late.
Доброй ночи (dobroy nochi) is used less, and mostly late at night online or on the phone when “good evening” no longer fits. It is not the equivalent of “good night” as a farewell in most situations.
Neither is a greeting. Russian has no night-time equivalent of Добрый вечер that works on arrival.
Two short exchanges
Friends splitting up after coffee
Masha. Ну, мне пора. Пока! Anton. Пока! Увидимся завтра.
Мне пора (mne pora) means “it’s time for me to go” and is the usual way Russians signal a departure before the actual farewell.
Leaving an office
You. Спасибо большое. До свидания. Receptionist. До свидания! Всего доброго.
Farewells often come in pairs like this, one from each side, and the second speaker frequently upgrades slightly. That is normal, not a correction.
Note how the goodbye follows a thank you. The two run together often enough that learning Russian thanks and the replies to them makes the whole exit smoother.
Mistakes to watch for
Using Пока in a formal setting. The commonest error, and the most audible. Shops, clinics, offices and anyone older get До свидания.
Translating “see ya” word for word. English farewells built on “see” do not map cleanly. Увидимся is the natural equivalent, and it already contains the “we” and the “again”.
Saying Прощай casually. Прощай (proshchay) means goodbye forever. It belongs in songs, breakups and deathbeds. Using it after lunch is a genuine misfire.
Stressing До свидания on the first or last syllable. The weight sits in the middle.
Adding a farewell to every message. In Russian chat, conversations often just stop. A closing Пока every time can read as oddly formal.
Switching register between hello and goodbye. If you opened with Здравствуйте, close with До свидания. Greeting a receptionist formally and then leaving with Пока is a mismatch a Russian ear catches immediately.
The short casual ones
Between friends you will hear Давай (davay) used as a sign-off, especially on the phone. It literally means “give” or “let’s”, and as a farewell it works like a brisk “right then, bye”.
Счастливо (schastlivo, happily) is another quick one, warmer than Пока and usable with people you know but are not close to.
Both are worth recognising. Neither is needed before Пока and До свидания are automatic.
The wish that follows the farewell
Russian farewells frequently come with a good wish attached, and leaving it off is one reason a learner’s goodbye can sound abrupt.
| Russian | Transliteration | Meaning | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Хорошего дня | kha-RO-shuh-vuh DNYA | Have a good day | Shops, offices, morning partings |
| Удачи | oo-DA-chee | Good luck | Before an exam, an interview, anything hard |
| Береги себя | bee-ree-GEE see-BYA | Take care | Close friends and family, ты form |
| Счастливого пути | shas-LEE-vuh-vuh poo-TEE | Have a good trip | Someone travelling |
Береги себя has a вы form, Берегите себя (beregite sebya), for someone you address formally or for more than one person.
These stack onto the farewell rather than replacing it. A shop assistant might close with До свидания, хорошего дня, and a friend seeing you off before a flight is likely to say Пока, счастливого пути.
Goodbyes in messages and on calls
Written Russian farewells behave a little differently from spoken ones, and this is where most learners actually meet them.
Пока-пока (poka-poka) is the doubled form, and it is a phone and messaging habit more than a face-to-face one. Repeating the word softens it and adds warmth, in the same way English speakers say “bye bye” to end a call lightly.
До связи (do svyazi, until we are in touch) is a useful one that rarely appears in beginner lists. It closes a call or a message thread while leaving the conversation open, and it works in both casual and semi-professional contexts.
Leaving a group needs its own form. Всем пока (vsem poka, bye everyone) covers walking out of a room or dropping out of a group chat. The formal equivalent is Всего доброго addressed to the room.
One habit worth copying: Russian messages often end without any farewell at all. A thread simply stops and resumes later. Signing off every exchange is not wrong, but it is not required either.
Common questions
How do you say bye in Russian?
What does До свидания literally mean?
Is Пока rude in a shop?
Why do Russians say Пока twice?
What is the Russian for see you tomorrow?
Match the farewell to the relationship
Goodbyes in Russian are not a vocabulary problem. Пока and До свидания take a minute to learn and years to stop misapplying, because the difficulty is social rather than linguistic.
Anchor them to the pronoun. Anyone who gets ты gets Пока. Anyone who gets вы gets До свидания. The rest of the list is decoration you can add later.
Leave the way you arrived: same register at the door on the way out as on the way in.