Yes, No, Thanks & Numbers
These are the tiny words you will use in almost every conversation. Learn them first and you can already agree, refuse, and say thank you. In Russian, да (da) means "yes" and нет (nyet) means "no". To thank someone, say спасибо (spasibo). A common reply is пожалуйста (pozhaluysta), which means both "you're welcome" and "please".
Core words
да (da) — yes
нет (nyet) — no
спасибо (spasibo) — thank you
пожалуйста (pozhaluysta) — please / you're welcome
Numbers 1–5
Start with the first five numbers: один (odin) 1, два (dva) 2, три (tri) 3, четыре (chetyre) 4, and пять (pyat) 5. Say them out loud until they feel automatic.
Examples
Да, спасибо! (Da, spasibo!) — Yes, thank you!
Нет, спасибо. (Nyet, spasibo.) — No, thank you.
У меня два билета. (U menya dva bileta.) — I have two tickets.
Три, четыре, пять. (Tri, chetyre, pyat.) — Three, four, five.