Lingoflyдобрий день
- добрий деньdobryi dengood day
“добрий день” (dobryi den) — good day in Ukrainian. Phrase, level A0, topic — greetings and goodbyes. The neutral, polite greeting for strangers, shops and offices. Literally "good day" — dobyi den has no surprises in it. In a live sentence: “Добрий день, як справи?” (Dobryi den, yak spravy) — Good day, how are you? Written with the characters д, о (o), б (b), р, и, й (y), д, е, н, ь. One of 9 words in the set “greetings and goodbyes” in the Ukrainian course.
In short
| Written in Ukrainian | добрий день (dobryi den) |
| Read in Latin letters | dobryi den |
| Translation | good day |
| Part of speech | phrase |
| Level | A0 |
Why it looks that way
The neutral, polite greeting for strangers, shops and offices. Literally "good day" — dobyi den has no surprises in it.
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.
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.
- привітpryvithiAn easy start: privit sounds friendly and informal, exactly like "hi". Save it for people you already know.
- доброго ранкуdobroho rankugood morningLiterally "of good morning" — a wish in the "of" form, like wishing someone "a good morning's worth". Ranku is morning.
- як справи?yak spravy?how are you?Literally "how are the affairs?" — sprava is "matter, business". With a stranger, add the polite you: yak u vas spravy?
- до побаченняdo pobachenniagoodbyeLiterally "until seeing" — do "until" plus pobachennia "seeing". The formal, safe goodbye for any stranger.
- бувайbuvaibyeFrom buvaty, "to be, hang around" — literally "carry on being". Casual, for friends; with strangers use do pobachennia.
- добрий вечірdobryi vechirgood eveningVechir is "evening", said "vechir". Do not mix it up with vecherya, "supper" — evening the time and supper the meal are different words.
- на добранічna dobranichgood nightLiterally "onto the good night". Works both when leaving someone in the evening and when going to bed yourself.
- до зустрічіdo zustrichisee 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 day” in Ukrainian?
The neutral, polite greeting for strangers, shops and offices. Literally "good day" — dobyi den has no surprises in it.
- 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 “bye” in Ukrainian?
From buvaty, "to be, hang around" — literally "carry on being". Casual, for friends; with strangers use do pobachennia.
- How do you say “how are you?” in Ukrainian?
Literally "how are the affairs?" — sprava is "matter, business". With a stranger, add the polite you: yak u vas spravy?
- 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 day” in Ukrainian?
«добрий день» (dobryi den), read “dobryi den”. In a live sentence: “Добрий день, як справи?” (Dobryi den, yak spravy) — Good day, how are you? Phrase, level A0, from the set “greetings and goodbyes”; written with the characters д, о (o), б (b), р, и, й (y), д, е, н, ь.
How is “добрий день” (dobryi den) written in Latin letters?
dobryi den. 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 neutral, polite greeting for strangers, shops and offices. Literally "good day" — dobyi den has no surprises in it. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.