In English you can say "good day" as either a greeting or a goodbye. Can добрый день
and its morning/evening variants be used in the same way, or only as a greeting?
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1It's Добрый день, and no, you cannot use it as a Goodbye.– Avi GordonJan 27, 2015 at 10:25
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1I am not sure about other flavours but in British English, as far as I know, Good day is not used as a greeting; and when it's used as a goodbye it implies sarcasm bordering on contempt. :)– Avi GordonJan 27, 2015 at 10:31
4 Answers
Добрый день
cannot be used as a goodbye, only as a greeting.
On the other hand, you can use доброго/хорошего/приятного дня/вечера
which is basically "(I wish you a) good day".
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1I am not sure хорошего дня is not a very recent calque of the English Have a good day. It sounds to me exactly as such. Jan 27, 2015 at 11:32
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If you need a general goodbye phrase, say «Всего хорошего!». It probably would work in any situation.
«Приятного вечера» is sometimes used, but it actually means having a nice time; so I would not say it to a person in the middle of boring work. «Хорошего дня!» is not very usual, but correct.
You can't use
Добрый день!
But, yes,
Доброго дня!
is perfectly ok. Genitiv here indicates, that you are it is a perting wish.