Russian business phone phrases: what to say and which mistakes to avoid
Sado AI team · · 4 min read
In short
In Uzbekistan many callers speak Russian on the phone, while for staff Russian is often a second language. They don’t need all the grammar, just 10–15 ready phrases: greeting, asking the name, checking, hold, transfer, price and goodbye. The most common mistakes are mixing «ты» and «вы», a female employee saying «я записал», and word-for-word calques such as «перезвоню обратно». Keep the list by the phone and listen to call recordings regularly.
What staff need on a Russian-language call
In Tashkent and other cities, some callers speak only Russian or simply prefer it. Staff understand Russian but freeze on the phone or translate from Uzbek word for word, and callers hear it at once. The fix is simple: learn one correct Russian line for each situation. Practice teaches the rest.
A phrase for each situation
| Situation | Russian phrase (meaning) |
|---|---|
| Answering | «Здравствуйте, Oyna Uy, меня зовут Нигора. Слушаю вас.» (Hello, Oyna Uy, Nigora speaking.) |
| Asking the name | «Как я могу к вам обращаться?» (How may I address you?) |
| Checking | «Правильно понимаю: вам нужен замер в субботу?» (So you need a measurement on Saturday?) |
| Bad line | «Простите, вас плохо слышно. Повторите, пожалуйста.» (Sorry, I can’t hear you well.) |
| Hold | «Одну минуту, сейчас посмотрю.» (One moment, I’ll check.) |
| Callback | «Я уточню и перезвоню вам через десять минут. Удобно?» (I’ll check and call back in ten minutes.) |
| Transfer | «Соединяю с менеджером, оставайтесь на линии.» (Putting you through, please hold.) |
| Price | «Окно с установкой стоит 1 200 000 сумов.» (A window with fitting costs 1,200,000 so‘m.) |
| Goodbye | «Спасибо за звонок! Всего доброго.» (Thanks for calling! Goodbye.) |
The price is only an example.
Common mistakes in Russian on the phone
| Wrong | Right | Why |
|---|---|---|
| «Скажи номер» | «Скажите номер, пожалуйста» | Always «вы» with customers, requests included: the «-те» ending. |
| «Я записал» (said by a woman) | «Я записала» | Uzbek has no grammatical gender; Russian past-tense verbs change with it. |
| «Я вам перезвоню обратно» | «Я вам перезвоню» | «Обратно» (back) is redundant. |
| «Ложите трубку» | «Оставайтесь на линии» | «Ложить» is incorrect, and here it even means the opposite: “hang up”. |
| «Что?» | «Простите, повторите, пожалуйста» | A bare «Что?» (What?) sounds rude. |
| «Это не ко мне» | «Сейчас соединю с коллегой, он подскажет» | Give the caller a next step. |
Watch the stress too: «звони́т», «позвони́те», not «зво́нит».
Saying numbers, prices and addresses
- Say phone numbers in groups and read them back: «девяносто, сто двадцать три, сорок пять, шестьдесят семь. Верно?»
- Say prices in full: «миллион двести тысяч сумов». Slang like «лям» or «косарь» doesn’t belong in a business call.
- For addresses, ask for a landmark: «Подскажите ориентир?»
- If an older caller introduces themselves by name and patronymic, use both: «Галина Петровна, записала вас на среду.»
A sample call
Sado: Hello, Oyna Uy, my name is Nigora. How can I help?
Caller: Hello. I want new windows on my balcony. How much will it cost?
Sado: It depends on the size. Our measurer will come, measure everything and give an exact price. Does Saturday suit you?
Caller: Saturday morning works.
Sado: Good. How may I address you?
Caller: Olga.
Sado: Olga, I’ve booked you for Saturday, ten to twelve. Could you give me the address and a landmark?
Note: she didn’t guess a price but offered the next step for an exact one, and used the right form for herself, «записала».
Handing Russian-language calls to an AI operator
If you get many Russian calls but few staff with good Russian, an AI operator helps. Sado answers in the caller’s language: a caller who speaks Russian gets Russian, and a caller who asks to switch gets the other language. It speaks in your company’s name with your prices and facts and doesn’t invent what it doesn’t know. Each call’s recording and transcript are kept in the portal.
More: voice bot in Uzbek and Russian and common questions. Try it live or call 78 778 01 23.
Questions
What if a staff member’s Russian is weak?
Give them 10–15 phrases and two or three days of phone practice with a colleague. Harder calls should go to a colleague with good Russian.
Which language should the call start in?
Usually “Assalomu alaykum”, then the call goes on in the language the caller answers in. The point is never to make the caller switch.
«Здравствуйте» or «Добрый день»?
Both are correct. «Здравствуйте» fits any time of day, while «Добрый день» sounds odd in the evening.