There are five ways to say “again” in Russian: “опять,” “снова,” “ещё раз,” “заново,” and “вновь.” These words are almost synonyms, but have different nuances in their meaning and uses in context. We’ve explained their meanings with plenty of example sentences below.
"Опять" and "снова" are largely interchangeable. They both mean “again” with a meaning of resumption (not repetition).
What makes "опять" different is that it may also imply a meaning with negative emotions, usually expressing irritation.
Meanwhile, "снова" will be used more than "опять" for phrases that have a positive emotional resonance. That being said, "снова" can really be used in most emotional contexts to mean “again.”
“Ещё раз” literally means “once more” or “one more time” in Russian. You use “ещё раз” to mean “again” when referring to a repeated action (but not a repeated state of being, e.g., emotional state).
"Заново" doesn’t mean “again.” Rather, Заново means “all over again” or “again from the beginning.”
This meaning of "заново" makes sense when you examine the root of the word: "за" + "ново" has the literal meaning of “for the new one.”
"Вновь" means “again” when it’s about an action that recurs after a period of time. Think of “вновь” as meaning “yet again” or “once again.”
"Вновь" is often used in oral and written speech that has a formal, bookish style.