Friday in Russian: пятница
Pronounced PYAT-nee-tsuh — literally “fifth (day)”.
Friday in Russian at a Glance
| Cyrillic | пятница |
|---|---|
| Transliteration | pyatnitsa |
| On Friday | в пятницу (v pyatnitsu) |
| Pronunciation | PYAT-nee-tsuh (пя́т·ни·ца) |
| Literal meaning | fifth (day) |
| Abbreviation | Пт |
From пять (pyat', “five”): Friday is “the fifth day”. In folk Orthodoxy the day was personified as Saint Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa — “Paraskeva” itself comes from the Greek for “preparation (day)”.
How to Pronounce пятница
PYAT-nee-tsuh — syllable by syllable: пя́т·ни·ца.
- Unstressed o sounds like “ah” — that's why понедельник starts with “pah-”, not “poh-”.
- The soft sign ь has no sound of its own; it softens the consonant before it.
- Stress matters: stressing the wrong syllable can make a word hard to recognize.
Example Sentences with пятница
How to Say “Happy Friday” in Russian
Russians wish each other a good day using the genitive case: the phrase literally means “(I wish you) a good Friday”. It's common in texts and at the end of phone calls.
All 7 Days of the Week in Russian
Russian day names tell a story: three are numbers (second, fourth, fifth day), one means “middle”, one comes from the Sabbath, one means “resurrection”, and Monday literally means “the day after doing nothing”. The week starts on Monday in Russia.
| English | Russian | Transliteration | Pronunciation | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | понедельник | ponedel'nik | puh-nee-DYEL-neek | |
| Tuesday | вторник | vtornik | FTOR-neek | |
| Wednesday | среда | sreda | sree-DAH | |
| Thursday | четверг | chetverg | cheet-VYERK | |
| Friday | пятница | pyatnitsa | PYAT-nee-tsuh | |
| Saturday | суббота | subbota | soo-BOH-tuh | |
| Sunday | воскресенье | voskresen'ye | vuhs-kree-SYEN-yeh |
See the full guide: Days of the Week in Russian.
Cultural Notes: Friday in Russian-Speaking Countries
Пятница carries the same end-of-week joy as Friday everywhere — “пятница!” alone works as a small celebration. A famous Russian-language film and countless memes are named after it.
Did You Know?
From пять (pyat', “five”): Friday is “the fifth day”. In folk Orthodoxy the day was personified as Saint Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa — “Paraskeva” itself comes from the Greek for “preparation (day)”. Curious how English got its name for Friday? See our guide to the origins of the days of the week.
How to Use пятница in a Sentence
Use в + accusative case for “on”: в пятницу (v pyatnitsu) = on Friday. For “every Friday” Russians say по пятницам (po pyatnitsam). The case ending changes for feminine day names, so memorize the в-phrase as a unit.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you say Friday in Russian?
Friday in Russian is пятница (pyatnitsa), pronounced “PYAT-nee-tsuh”. It literally means “fifth (day)”.
What does пятница mean in English?
From пять (pyat', “five”): Friday is “the fifth day”. In folk Orthodoxy the day was personified as Saint Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa — “Paraskeva” itself comes from the Greek for “preparation (day)”.
How do you pronounce пятница?
It's pronounced “PYAT-nee-tsuh” — broken into syllables: пя́т·ни·ца. Use the audio button on this page to hear a recording.
Is пятница capitalized in Russian?
Russian weekday names are written in lowercase — пятница, not Пятница — unlike English. They're only capitalized at the start of a sentence.
How do you say “Happy Friday” in Russian?
Хорошей пятницы! (Khoroshey pyatnitsy!). Russians wish each other a good day using the genitive case: the phrase literally means “(I wish you) a good Friday”. It's common in texts and at the end of phone calls.
How is Friday abbreviated in Russian?
Friday (пятница) is abbreviated Пт on Russian calendars and schedules.
How do you say “on Friday” in Russian?
в пятницу (v pyatnitsu) — the preposition в plus the accusative case. For “every Friday”, use по пятницам (po pyatnitsam).
How do you write Friday in Russian Cyrillic?
пятница — and remember it's lowercase in Russian unless it starts a sentence. The calendar abbreviation is Пт.
How do you say “today is Friday” in Russian?
Сегодня пятница (Segodnya pyatnitsa). Russian drops the verb “to be” in the present tense, so it's literally just “today Friday”.