добрий вечір
“добрий вечір” — good evening in Ukrainian. Phrase, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. Vechir is "evening", said "vechir". Do not mix it up with vecherya, "supper" — evening the time and supper the meal are different words. In a live sentence: “Добрий вечір! Столик на двох?” — Good evening! A table for two? One of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Ukrainian course.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | добрий вечір |
| Translation | good evening |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
Vechir is "evening", said "vechir". Do not mix it up with vecherya, "supper" — evening the time and supper the meal are different words.
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.
- Добрий вечір! Столик на двох?Good evening! A table for two?
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.
- привітhiAn easy start: privit sounds friendly and informal, exactly like "hi". Save it for people you already know.
- добрий деньgood dayThe neutral, polite greeting for strangers, shops and offices. Literally "good day" — dobyi den has no surprises in it.
- доброго ранкуgood morningLiterally "of good morning" — a wish in the "of" form, like wishing someone "a good morning's worth". Ranku is morning.
- як справи?how are you?Literally "how are the affairs?" — sprava is "matter, business". With a stranger, add the polite you: yak u vas spravy?
- до побаченняgoodbyeLiterally "until seeing" — do "until" plus pobachennia "seeing". The formal, safe goodbye for any stranger.
- бувайbyeFrom buvaty, "to be, hang around" — literally "carry on being". Casual, for friends; with strangers use do pobachennia.
- на добранічgood nightLiterally "onto the good night". Works both when leaving someone in the evening and when going to bed yourself.
- до зустрічіsee youLiterally "until the meeting". Less formal than do pobachennia; zustricha is "meeting" — a word you will keep meeting.
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 “good evening” in Ukrainian?
Vechir is "evening", said "vechir". Do not mix it up with vecherya, "supper" — evening the time and supper the meal are different words.
- How do you say “good night” in Ukrainian?
Literally "onto the good night". Works both when leaving someone in the evening and when going to bed yourself.
- How do you say “goodbye” in Ukrainian?
Literally "until seeing" — do "until" plus pobachennia "seeing". The formal, safe goodbye for any stranger.
- How do you say “good morning” in Ukrainian?
Literally "of good morning" — a wish in the "of" form, like wishing someone "a good morning's worth". Ranku is morning.
- How do you say “hi” in Ukrainian?
An easy start: privit sounds friendly and informal, exactly like "hi". Save it for people you already know.
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 “good evening” in Ukrainian?
«добрий вечір». In a live sentence: “Добрий вечір! Столик на двох?” — Good evening! A table for two? Phrase, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Vechir is "evening", said "vechir". Do not mix it up with vecherya, "supper" — evening the time and supper the meal are different words. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.