пока
“пока” (poka) — bye in Russian. Interjection, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. The casual bye, said with a rising tone. The same word is also the conjunction "while": poka chay kipit, "while the tea boils". In a live sentence: “Пока, до завтра!” — Bye, see you tomorrow! Written with the characters п, о, к, а. One of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Russian course.
In short
| Written in Russian | пока |
| Read in Latin letters | poka |
| Translation | bye |
| Part of speech | interjection |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
The casual bye, said with a rising tone. The same word is also the conjunction "while": poka chay kipit, "while the tea boils".
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Пока, до завтра!Poka, do zavtra!Bye, see you tomorrow!
Nearby words: greetings and goodbyes
Every conversation starts here, and so does every first impression: say hello in the local language and you stop being a stranger in about a second.
- приветprivethiThe short, friendly hello for people you know — exactly the slot "hi" fills. You greet a stranger or an elder differently, and it only opens a talk: there is no matching casual bye built on it.
- добрый деньdobryy dengood afternoonThe neutral daytime hello, from about noon to six — fine in a shop, on the phone and in email. Literally "kind day".
- доброе утроdobroe utrogood morningSaid until noon, then handed over to the afternoon greeting. Literally "kind morning"; the adjective agrees with utro, a neuter word.
- как дела?kak dela?how are you?Literally "how are the things" — the everyday question to someone you know. The expected answer is khorosho: you ask to be polite, not for a report.
- до свиданияdo svidaniyagoodbyeLiterally "until the next meeting" — an of-form built on do, "until". The neutral farewell; among friends it is poka.
- добрый вечерdobryy vechergood eveningA greeting, not a farewell: meeting at nine you say this, and the good-night wish is a different phrase kept for parting.
- спокойной ночиspokoynoy nochigood nightLiterally "of a calm night", an of-form. It is only said when parting — you cannot greet anyone with it.
- до встречиdo vstrechisee you"Until we meet" — warmer and softer than the formal goodbye. Add a time: do vstrechi v ponedelnik, "see you Monday".
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “greetings and goodbyes”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “bye” in Russian?
The casual bye, said with a rising tone. The same word is also the conjunction "while": poka chay kipit, "while the tea boils".
- How do you say “good night” in Russian?
Literally "of a calm night", an of-form. It is only said when parting — you cannot greet anyone with it.
- How do you say “goodbye” in Russian?
Literally "until the next meeting" — an of-form built on do, "until". The neutral farewell; among friends it is poka.
- How do you say “good morning” in Russian?
Said until noon, then handed over to the afternoon greeting. Literally "kind morning"; the adjective agrees with utro, a neuter word.
- How do you say “hi” in Russian?
The short, friendly hello for people you know — exactly the slot "hi" fills. You greet a stranger or an elder differently, and it only opens a talk: there is no matching casual bye built on it.
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “bye” in Russian?
«пока», read “poka”. In a live sentence: “Пока, до завтра!” — Bye, see you tomorrow! Interjection, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”; written with the characters п, о, к, а.
How is “пока” written in Latin letters?
poka. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
The casual bye, said with a rising tone. The same word is also the conjunction "while": poka chay kipit, "while the tea boils". A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.