Поздра́вьте свои́х друзе́й с Но́вым Го́дом по-ру́сски! [Wish a Happy New Year to your friends in Russian!] Watch the video below and learn how to say “Happy New Year” in Russian language.

С НО́ВЫМ ГО́ДОМ!  –  [S  NOH-VYM  GOH-DAHM]  –  HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The most common way to wish a Happy New Year in Russian language is to say с Но́вым го́дом. The phrase literally translates into English as “with the New Year.” It may sound funny to an English ear at first, but when the Russian phrase is used in a full sentence, it begins to make more sense:

Мы поздравля́ем вас с Но́вым го́дом! – We congratulate you with the New Year!

Just like English speakers, who end up dropping “we wish you” and simply use the phrase “Happy New Year,” Russians, too, drop “мы поздравля́ем вас” and just say “с Но́вым го́дом” to one another. Russian preposition c [with] requires the use of Instrumental case, therefore the endings change from Новый год in the Nominative to (с) Новым годом in the Instrumental. 

Grammar digression:

In the phrase Но́вый год [New Year], the adjective но́вый [new] has the ending -ый in Nominative case and the noun год_ [year] has a zero ending, which means that both, the adjective and the noun, are singular and masculine. In Instrumental case, singular masculine adjectives receive endings -ым, -им and singular masculine nouns gain endings -ом, -ем. Since both stems, in но́в–ый [new] and год–_ [year] end in hard consonants, in Instrumental case the adjective and the noun will gain the endings -ым and -ом respectively: (с) Но́вым годом.

Grammar tip:

In Russian language, the preposition c [with] is often used with Instrumental case!

Но́вый Год [New Year] is the most celebrated пра́здник [holiday] in Russia. People отмеча́ют [celebrate] it with their families and friends. The celebrations often last through the night. At 12 AM everyone wishes one another a Happy New Year (or literally congratulates one another с Но́вым го́дом [with the New Year]). You, too, can wish a Happy New Year to your friends and family по-ру́сски [in Russian language]! You can also surprise them by sending them откры́тку [a postcard] and writing “С НО́ВЫМ ГО́ДОМ!” in it!

ПОЗДРАВЛЯ́ЕМ ВСЕХ С НО́ВЫМ ГО́ДОМ! – HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!