Greetings, requests, thanks, apologies, wishes and condolences - the fixed formulas, who they are for, and the ones that have no equivalent elsewhere.
I can greet, thank, request, apologise, congratulate and offer condolences with the right formula for the person and occasion.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Добрай раніцы, спадарыня Ганна!
Good morning, Ms Hanna!
Дзякуй вам за дапамогу. - Няма за што.
Thank you for your help. - Not at all.
Ці не маглі б вы прычыніць акно?
Could you possibly close the window?
Смачна есці! - Дзякуй, сядайце з намі.
Enjoy your meal! - Thank you, sit down with us.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Ты within the family, with friends, with children and among people who have agreed on it. Вы otherwise, capitalised in writing when addressing one person. Moving to ты is proposed, not assumed: Можа, на ты?
Three naming conventions coexist: name plus patronymic (Пятро Іванавіч), the revived спадар plus surname, and the plain first name among peers. Which you meet depends on the setting, and a Belarusian speaker will not be surprised by any of them.
| Formula | When |
|---|---|
| Добрай раніцы | morning - note the genitive |
| Добры дзень | the general daytime greeting |
| Добры вечар | evening |
| Вітаю / Вітаем | welcome, slightly formal |
| Прывітанне | informal, among peers |
| Дабранач | parting at night, not a greeting |
Добрай раніцы is in the genitive because the full form is a wish - [зычу] добрай раніцы - and the same explains Добрай дарогі and Усяго добрага.
Дзякуй, with the dative for the person: дзякуй табе, дзякуй вам. Stronger: шчыры дзякуй, вялікі дзякуй. The replies are калі ласка, няма за што, and на здароўе after food.
Калі ласка does double duty as please and as you are welcome, exactly as it does in Polish.
Ordered from direct to soft: Дайце, калі ласка - Ці не маглі б вы... - Ці не будзе ласкі... The conditional plus a negative question is the polite standard, and using the bare imperative with a stranger is noticeably brusque.
Выбачайце or прабачце for anything real; прабачце, калі ласка to soften further. For attracting attention, Прабачце... works as an opener.
Віншую з... plus the instrumental: Віншую з Новым годам, Віншую са святам. For condolence, Прыміце шчырыя спачуванні - the phrase is fixed and is not varied.
These formulas are the part of the language where a small stock goes furthest. A learner who uses смачна есці and добрай дарогі at the right moments will be read as someone who knows the language, whatever the state of their case endings.
Apply this grammar in C1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: using the bare imperative with strangers, and putting the person after дзякуй in the accusative.
Using the accusative after дзякуй
It takes the dative: дзякую табе, дзякуй вам.
Using a bare imperative with a stranger
Ці не маглі б вы... is the polite standard.
Using the wrong case after віншую з
It takes the instrumental: з Новым годам.
Paraphrasing a formula instead of using it
Смачна есці and хай шанцуе are learned whole.
Добрай раніцы, спадарыня Ганна!
Good morning, Ms Hanna!
The genitive because the greeting is a wish, plus a revived form of address.
Дзякуй вам за дапамогу. - Няма за што.
Thank you for your help. - Not at all.
Dative after <em>дзякуй</em>, and the standard reply.
Ці не маглі б вы прычыніць акно?
Could you possibly close the window?
The polite standard: a conditional inside a negative question.
Смачна есці! - Дзякуй, сядайце з намі.
Enjoy your meal! - Thank you, sit down with us.
A formula with no clean equivalent, and the invitation that normally answers it.
Віншую вас з Калядамі і зычу здароўя.
I wish you a happy Christmas and good health.
<em>Віншую з</em> plus instrumental, and <em>зычыць</em> plus genitive.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in C1 course exercises