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I find it very hard to translate "excited" to Russian. Dictionary says "взволнованный, возбуждённый" which doesn't fit in most cases. For example how would you translate the following sentences:

  1. I'm very excited about my new job.
  2. My trip to Europe was so exciting.
  3. Are you excited about going to the party?
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11 Answers 11

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36

As JAM already said, Russians prefer to hint at their feelings instead of describing them.
Instead of saying they're excited about new job, they'll say the job is friggin' awesome.

If you use words like возбужден (which usually refers to sexual arousal for most people and atom state for physics geeks) to express your excitement you're risking to sound either too formal and insincere or too cute and funny, in case people are aware you're just a learner.

Instead, this is what I as native Russian would say if I was to communicate your sentences.
This is rather informal so Queen wouldn't approve but that's how people speak in their 20's and 30's.

I'm very excited about my new job.

To a friend

Кажется, я устроился в классное место.
(Seems like I landed an awesome job.)

To an acuqaintance

Я очень рад, что получил эту работу.
(I'm really glad I got this job.)

My trip to Europe was so exciting.

To a friend

В Европе было круто.
(It was cool in Europe.)

To an acquaintance

Поездка в Европу была потрясающей.
(The Europe trip was terrific.)

Are you excited about going to the party?

To a friend

Ты как, хочешь пойти?
(Hey, would you rather stay or go?)

To an acquaintance

Думаешь, будет хорошая вечеринка?
(Do you reckon it'll be a great party?)

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  • 7
    Awesome answer, also +1 for the atom state :)
    – Igor Zinov'yev
    Commented Jun 14, 2012 at 6:28
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    I'd say that "возбужден" is not only about sexual arousal, but also about any kind of state when positive emotions overwhelm one. Ex: Он был очень возбужден перед поездкой. However, the verb "возбуждаться\возбудиться" will be almost certainly interpreted as being about arousal.
    – Olga
    Commented Jun 29, 2012 at 7:29
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    True. But if we speak about some future event there is quite close translation: ждать с нетерпением, не терпится, не могу дождаться.
    – farfareast
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 1:35
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    I'm excited to go there. Мне не терпится туда пойти.
    – farfareast
    Commented Oct 25, 2012 at 1:44
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That's a great question.

Instead of saying I am excited (now), in Russian, one tends to indicate excitement of what's to come.

In other words I am excited about the party, in Russian, may sound as The party will be great (thus showing excitement). Классная будет вечеринка (hinting that one is excited about it).

A worthy equivalent would be "to be happy about something".

Я рад моей новой работе and I am excited about my job come dangerously close to mean the same

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9

I would translate I am excited as Я в восторге or Меня радует. And the trip was увлекательной or захватывающей.

There is a huge number of synonyms for you :) http://multitran.ru/c/m.exe?CL=1&s=excited&l1=1

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3

much more colloquial form is 'Меня прёт от моей новой работы' or 'Я тащусь от своей новой работы', probably this is most closed form to 'I'm excited about my new job' but the later one rather could be heard from 30-40 years old persons, referring to their subcultural teenage slang, partially related to Soviet hippies. The use of this form is rare.

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  • There's a bit of a difference here: "прет" is a colloquial expression, while "excited about" is literary. Also, "прет" usually implies positive emotions, while "excited about" can mean either positive or negative (although positive is used more often).
    – Aleks G
    Commented Nov 8, 2012 at 11:09
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You can say

Я в экстазе от новой работы :-)

But more colloquial form would be

Я в восторге от новой работы

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0

You can use the word вдохновлять in the first and the third sentences in your question. However, in my opinion, it is one of those words which do not translate into Russian directly, and the sentences are paraphrased instead. For example, the first message can be translated as Меня очень радует моя новая работа, and the third one as Тебя радует, что ты пойдешь на вечеринку?.

In the second message the word is simply translated as захватывающий.

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The context may dictate different translations in each case. If, however, for some reason you would need your translations of the word excite and its derivatives to be more or less uniform, you could consider using various forms of впечатление, впечатлять etc.:

I'm very excited about my new job.
Я очень впечатлён/впечатлена (своей) новой работой.
Я под большим впечатлением от (своей) новой работы.
Меня очень впечатляет (моя) новая работа.

My trip to Europe was so exciting.
Моя поездка в Европу была такой впечатляющей!
У меня столько впечатлений/такие впечатления от поездки в Европу!

Are you excited about going to the party?
Тебя впечатляет, что ты идёшь на (эту) вечеринку?
Ты под впечатлением от предстоящей вечеринки?

Note that excited may also imply nervousness. In particular, one could indeed be excited to the point of being nervous about going to a party. I think, под впечатлением does cover this aspect too. Although a somewhat closer alternative in this respect might be заинтригованный, интриговать, as in Ты заинтригован предстоящей вечеринкой?.

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    впечатляющий (and related same-root words) is the literal translation of word excited. However when looking at translating the sentence, this is often not the right word to use. For example, I don't think phrase Ты под впечатлением от предстоящей вечеринки? is used ever in real life.
    – Aleks G
    Commented Nov 25, 2012 at 19:43
  • @AleksG: Thanks for the feedback. And you may be right about that last item. My choice of words and/or grammatical constructs (in any of the languages I speak) does sometimes result in something that may not sound very natural, even if it seems okay to me. I think it's when I start focusing more on how well the word or phrase conveys the idea than on how real-life it is. Although in this case I might have sensed that something was amiss, and that could have been what made me think of an alternative and come up with заинтригован. Not sure, though.
    – Andriy M
    Commented Nov 25, 2012 at 21:46
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I thought I needed to contribute by providing one nice Russian idiom for "be very excited". It is a little rude/colloquial and it is usually used when talking about somebody else, not yourself. It can be used referring to yourself if you have a good sense of humor.

He is very excited about his new job. - Он просто писает кипятком от своей новой работы.

It has a hint of a kind joke about somebody's excitement. English "be excited" is more neutral.

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I often heard "Я жду с нетерпением" (wait without patience) to say that "I'm anxious in a good way" or "looking forward to" an event. You could say "Я жду с нетерпением начать новую работу" and that would communicate the American equivalent of "I'm excited about my new job."

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  • Thank you for sharing your clarifications & some nuances. There are some changes that will be necessary. If it is imperative to use начать smth, you'll have to break the pattern which govern genitive case of a [direct object]. In Russian one must say Я жду с нетерпением (direct object), чтобы начать (работать). But when you say ... чтобы начать новую работу it interfere with новая that means the next one the same. So Я жду с нетерпением (момента), чтобы начать (работать на новом месте) would be the best one.
    – Avtokod
    Commented May 30, 2015 at 23:03
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Some great answers here! Having read them, I was reassured that the words excited and exciting are not in use in Russian.

Thus, if you need to translate your emotions from English, try to express them without using excited or exciting in the first place.

I'm very excited about my new job. -> I can't wait to start my new job! -> Я не могу дождаться начала своей новой работы!

My trip to Europe was so exciting. -> My trip to Europe left me impressed. -> Я был впечатлён своей поездкой по Европе.

Are you excited about going to the party? -> Are you ready to party? -> Ну что, ты готова к вечеринке?

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-3

How about:

  • Я очень рад моей новой работе.
  • Моя поездка в Европу былa настолько захватывающей.
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