A collection of idiomatic expressions in Russian with English equivalents.
| Idioms | English versions |
|---|---|
| Кто рано встает, тому Бог подает | The early bird catches the worm |
| В гостях хорошо, а дома лучше | East or West - home is best |
| Цель оправдывает средства | The end justifies the means |
| На вкус и цвет товарищей нет | Every man to his taste |
| Все хорошо в свое время | Everything is good in its season |
| Исключение подтверждает правило | The exception proves the rule |
| Противоположности сходятся | Extremes meet |
| Запретный плод сладок | Forbidden fruit is sweetest |
| Яблоко от яблони недалеко падает | The apple doesn't fall far from the tree = like father, like son |
| Нет дыма без огня | There is no smoke without fire |
| Клин клином вышибается | One fire drives out another |
| От судьбы не уйти | No flying from fate |
| Расставить точки над і | Dot your i's and cross your t's |
| Не все то золото, что блестит | All that glitters is not gold |
| Внешность обманчива | Appearances are deceitful |
| Как посеешь, так и пожнешь | As you sow, so shall you reap |
| Каждый сам строитель своего счастья | Every man is the architect of his own fortune |
| Лучшая защита - нападение | Best defence is offence |
| Лучше синица в руках, чем журавль в небе | A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| Дареному коню в зубы не смотрят | Don't look a gift horse in the mouth |
| Работать как лошадь | To work like a horse = to work hard |
Russian idioms compiled by Yevgeny Simzikov, with recordings by Alexandr Rakitin
Information about Russian | Useful phrases | Silly phrases | Numbers | Colours | Time | Family words | Terms of endearment | Weather | Idioms | Tongue twisters | Tower of Babel | Articles | Links | Constructed scripts for Russian | Books about Russian on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate links]
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, or if you can provide recordings, please contact me.
It's all Greek to me | It's raining cats and dogs | As easy as falling off a log | A sandwich short of a picnic | It's small world | When pigs fly | Out of sight, out of mind | Crystal-clear | Penny Pinching | Practice makes perfect | The grass is always greener | As Snug as a Bug in a Rug
Czech | French | Greek | Icelandic | Lithuanian | Manx | Russian | Slovak | Spanish | Swedish | Welsh
Useful phrases | Silly phrases | Numbers | Numerals | Colours | Telling the time | Dates | Weather words | Family words | Terms of endearment | Language names | Country names | Idioms | Proverbs | Tongue twisters | Signs | Compass directions | UDHR | Tower of Babel | Songs | Omniglot | Seven dwarfs | Zodiac signs | Computer parts | Compass directions | Animal sounds
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
[top]
