Learning the days of the week and months of the year is an essential first step in studying any language, including Russian. But knowing these words is just the beginning. Talking about dates, making plans, and describing when events happen involves a few additional grammar rules.
In this article, we'll cover essential Russian calendar vocabulary, from days and months to dates, and explain how to use it naturally and correctly in everyday conversations.
The Days of the Week in Russian
Did you know that many English names for the days of the week come from ancient gods and celestial bodies? Russian takes a more practical approach. Several Russian days of the week are named according to their position in the weekly calendar, making them surprisingly easy to remember once you understand the pattern.
| 📆 Day | 🤔 In Russian | 🔠 Romanised | 📖 In English | 🔡 IPA pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | понеде́льник | ponedélʹnik | After the non-working day | /pə.nʲəˈdʲelʲ.nʲək/ |
| Tuesday | bторник | vtornik | 2nd day | /vˈtornʲɪk/ |
| Wednesday | cреда | sreda | middle day | [srʲɪˈda] |
| Thursday | Четверг | chetverg | 4th day | [t͡ɕɪtˈvʲerk] |
| Friday | Пятница | pyatnitsa | 5th day | [ˈpʲætʲnʲɪt͡sə] |
| Saturday | cуббота | subbota | sabbath | [sʊˈbotə] |
| Sunday | Воскресенье | voskresén'ye | resurrection | [vəskrʲɪˈsʲenʲje] |
How could one go wrong with naming the days after their numerical order? Even Sunday, called 'resurrection' as a nod towards religion, and Monday - the day after the day of prayer, are elegant in their symmetry.
In Russia, the week starts on Monday, with Sunday reserved for religious observation.
So, it makes sense to call Monday "the day after the off-day."
Using Russian Days of the Week
Building your vocabulary is an essential part of learning Russian, and mastering the days of the week in Russian is a great place to start. But memorising their names is only half the challenge. You'll also need to learn how to use them correctly in sentences, including how their forms change depending on the context.
As nouns, they follow the rules of declension.
Example: Сегодня bторник (Segodnya vtornik) "Today is Tuesday", e.g.
Example: до понедельника (do ponedélʹnika) "Until Monday", e.g.
Example: в среду (v sredu) "On Wednesday", e.g.
Example: по воскресеньям (po voskreseniyam) "On Sundays", e.g.
This chapter isn't a Russian grammar lesson, but we have to touch on these rules to make sense of how weekdays change, depending on how they're used. Those are the grammar rules to know for days of the week in Russian1.
All the examples above are common in daily usage; simply use those constructions and switch the day for the one you wish to talk about. However, those examples do not cover the full spectrum of ways one might need to express days of the week. So, let's expand our lexicon of phrases.
In English
- Every Sunday
- From Monday to Friday
- Yesterday was Wednesday
- Tomorrow is Thursday
In Russian
- каждое воскресенье
- с понедельника по пятницу
- вчера была среда
- Завтра четверг
Romanisation
- kazhdoye voskresen'ye
- s ponedel'nika po pyatnitsu
- vchera byla sreda
- Zavtra chetverg
You might not have the vocabulary to build sentences that demand these phrases yet. Still, this is useful information to help you understand how Russian speakers use the days of the week in ordinary conversation.
Months in Russian
With the days of the week in Russian sorted, we can discuss the months of the year. In this word category, we find more than a couple of delicious secrets, starting with a nod to Russia's Orthodox belief system.
The Gregorian calendar is the official calendar for the Russian government and business.
The Julian calendar is for Orthodox celebrations and traditional birthdays.
Both calendars use the same vocabulary; only the dates shift (by 13 days).
As the months on both of Russia's calendars bear the same names, we can begin to learn them. Mastering these should be fairly easy, as Russia uses the same Latin-based names for months that you already know.
| 📅 Month | 📖 In Russian | 🔠 Romanised | 🔡 IPA pronunciation | 🕵️♀️ Similar to English? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Январь | yanvar' | [(j)ɪnˈvarʲ] | No similarity in pronunciation |
| February | Февраль | fevral' | [fʲɪˈvralʲ] | Closer to French than English |
| March | mарт | mart | [mart] | Close to English pronunciation |
| April | aпрель | aprel' | [ɐˈprʲelʲ] | Same as in English |
| May | mай | may | [maj] | Same as in English |
| June | Июнь | iyun' | [ɪˈjʉnʲ] | No similarity to English |
| July | Июль | iyul' | [ɪˈjʉlʲ] | No similarity to English |
| August | aвгуст | avgust | [ˈavɡʊst] | Similar to English |
| September | cентябрь | sentyabr' | [sʲɪnʲˈtʲab(ə)rʲ] | No similarity to English |
| October | oктябрь | oktyabr' | /ɐkˈtʲab(ə)rʲ/ | Roughly similar to English |
| November | hоябрь | noyabr' | /nəˈjabrʲ/ | No similarity to English |
| December | Декабрь | dekabr' | [dʲɪˈkab(ə)rʲ] | No similarity to English |
These names present a departure from Russian culture, which hews to tradition in many aspects. Russia didn't always embrace Western-style language and sensibilities; in fact, that change is relatively new.
In 1700, Tsar Peter the Great issued a decree proclaiming the use of Latin-derived names for the months. This was a measure to standardise the calendar, making it more in line with Western calendars. Before then, Russian months' names described seasonal activities or weather conditions.
While today's Russian month names lack the logic and elegance that its days of the week do, it wasn't always so2. Imagine the poetry of calling October "Leaf fall" month (Листопад - listopad) and February the "month of harsh weather" (Лютень - Lyuten').
In many rural areas, the old names for months prevail in folkloric and cultural contexts to this day. Furthermore, many Slavic languages, such as Polish and Ukrainian, feature names of months based on these proto-Slavic names.
How Russian Month Names Change in Dates
In English, month names stay the same whether you're talking about something happening in March, before March, or after March. In Russian, however, month names can change their endings depending on their grammatical case3. Here are three common ways this works.
Use the prepositional case when describing something that happens in a particular month.
🧩 Structure: в + month name in the prepositional case (ending in -е)
💬 Example: в марте (v marte) — in March
📝 In a sentence:
Её день рождения в марте.
Yeyo den' rozhdeniya v marte.
Her birthday is in March.
Use the genitive case when giving a specific date or describing the beginning or end of a time period.
🧩 Structure: с + month in the genitive case + до + month in the genitive case
💬 Example: с апреля до июня (s aprelya do iyunya) — from April until June
📝 In a sentence:
Курс длится с апреля до июня.
Kurs dlitsya s aprelya do iyunya.
The course runs from April until June.
The accusative case is used with the preposition на when scheduling or planning something for a particular month.
🧩 Structure: на + month name in the accusative case
💬 Example: на март (na mart) — for March
📝 In a sentence:
У меня запланирован отпуск на март.
U menya zaplanirovan otpusk na mart.
I have a vacation planned for March.
How Month Endings Change
Most Russian month names end in the soft sign -ь, which changes to -я in the genitive case. For example, апрель (aprel') becomes апреля (aprelya).
The exceptions follow slightly different patterns:
- Март (mart, March) becomes марта (marta).
- Август (avgust, August) becomes августа (avgusta).
- Май (may, May) becomes мая (maya).
In the prepositional case, all Russian month names end in -е, as in марте (marte), августе (avguste), and мае (maye).
When a number precedes the month, as in '5 October', use the genitive case for the number and the month: 5 октября (piatogo oktyabrya).
Mastering how to say dates in Russian is a great way to practise Russian numbers and their declensions. Not all of them decline, but enough of them do to make studying them a great brain workout.
How to Say Dates in Russian
We use dates so often that we seldom think of the many times they crop up. Doctors' appointments, the day we started school, and even our birthdays involve dates. So, as a student of Russian, learning constructions related to dates opens up whole new areas of conversation you might have. You can start practising with these phrases.
📖 In Russian: cегодня второе мая.
🔠 Romanised: segodnya vtoroye maya.
📖 In Russian: день святого Валентина - 14 февраля.
🔠 Romanised: den' svyatogo Valentina - 14 fevralya.
📖 In Russian: Мой день рождения - 3 мая.
🔠 Romanised: Moy den' rozhdeniya - 3 maya.
📖 In Russian: День знаний - 1 сентября в России.
🔠 Romanised: Den' znaniy - 1 sentyabrya v Rossii.
Russia's Day of Knowledge is a real thing; it's the day school starts across this vast country. Every 1 September, primary and secondary school students flood into public transportation to take their places in their classrooms. That's a firm date, by the way; it doesn't matter if that date falls on a Saturday or Sunday.
And, of course, you can tell others about your relatives and their birthdays, too; birthdays don't always have to be yours.
Scheduling Appointments
Let's say you're having trouble with your sinuses, and those headaches drove you to the doctor's surgery. An immediate diagnosis and prescription is likely, but then the doctor might say:
Come back in two weeks.
Вернитесь через две недели.
Vernites' cherez dve nedeli.
You would then schedule an appointment for that far out, but what if that day doesn't suit you? You could ask the receptionist for a specific date:
Could I come on Monday the thirteenth?
Могу ли я прийти в понедельник, тринадцатого?
Mogu li ya priyti v ponedel'nik, trinadtsatogo?
Important Julian Calendar Dates
As noted above, in today's Russia, the Julian calendar only matters for religious and traditional observances. These are the three most important dates to remember.
Useful Russian Calendar Vocabulary
Calendar words are so common that we don't usually think of them as 'calendar vocabulary', let alone the type of words they are. In Russian, those aspects are vitally important, as it's elaborate grammar rules compel them to change form, depending on their usage.
If you're an absolute beginner, you'll likely not have much use for these words yet. Still, learning them early helps you immerse yourself in the Russian language and culture. Beware, though, that as these are all nouns, they will all decline through Russian's six grammatical cases (but not here!).
English
- day
- week
- month
- year
- yesterday
- today
- tomorrow
- weekday
- weekend
- school day
- work day
- season
- date
- holiday
- calendar
Russian
- день
- неделя
- месяц
- год
- вчера
- сегодня
- завтра
- будний день
- выходной
- учебный день
- рабочий день
- сезон
- дата
- праздникnm
- календаряden'
Romanisation
- den'
- nedelya
- mesyats
- god
- vchera
- segodnya
- zavtra
- budniy den'
- vykhodnoy
- uchebnyy den'
- rabochiy den'
- sezon
- data
- prazdnik
- kalendarya
For your next lesson, learning how to greet people on these various occasions would be a great idea. You might learn the vocabulary to build complete greetings, such as "Have a nice weekend!" or "See you next month!"
References
- DayOfTheWeek.org. “Days of the Week in Russian.” Daysoftheweek.Org, 9 May 2026, daysoftheweek.org/languages/russian/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- Stanislav. “New Year of Peter I and the Roots of Grandfather Frost and Snow Maiden – Their True History.” Beorn’s Beehive, 31 Jan. 2019, stanislavs.org/new-year-of-peter-i-grandfather-frost-and-snow-maiden-their-true-history/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
- Nathan. “Days of the Week and Months in Russian (Complete Guide 2026).” Russiandeclensions.Com, Russian Cases with Anna®, Sept. 2026, russiandeclensions.com/learn/articles/russian-days-months-guide. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.
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