Russian Dictionary
давай
/davay/
Description of давай
The form давай is used when addressing one person informally. The plural or formal version is давайте.
1.
let's
Something's wrong, let's start over.
That didn't work. Let's do it again.
2.
let
3.
come on
Давай, говори!
Come on, speak!
4.
started
(doing something suddenly)
Real-life examples for давай
These examples have been automatically selected and may contain sensitive content that does not reflect our opinions or policies.
«Давай мы с тобой сыграем в прятки, и я тебя искать не буду, я найду себе намного лучше, я найду себе совсем другую».
"Let's play hide-and-seek, and I won't look for you, I'll find a much better one for myself, I'll find myself a completely different one."
«Давай не скажем маме/папе», – фраза, которая приучает ребенка к вранью, а не делает вас его другом.
"Let's not tell Mum/Dad" is a phrase that teaches a child to lie, not one that makes you their friend.
Summary
- We can use давай to suggest doing something together with another person.
- In this meaning, it's usually followed by a perfective verb in the first person plural (the мы-form).
- We can also use давай to urge or encourage someone to act — just like "come on" or "go ahead" in English.
- In informal Russian, we also use давай + infinitive to say that someone suddenly started doing something, usually with energy or enthusiasm.
- It can also be used in conversation to agree or give permission, much like "Okay", "Go ahead" or "Sounds good" in English.
- It's also used at the end of a conversation to say goodbye.
