The Russian Alphabet (Cyrillic Alphabet)
The Russian alphabet consist of 33 letters:
10 vowels (а, е, ё, и, о, у, ы, э, ю, я) and 21 consonants and 2 unpronounced signs (ь, ъ).
The good news is that:
- Russian letters look the same in Capital and lower case letters
- Russian words sound the same way they are written most of the time, so you will not make a lot of mistakes spelling or pronouncing Russian words or phrase.
Russian alphabet
|
Russian Letter |
Russian |
Pronunciation (with English examples) |
Transcribed |
Russian examples |
|
A a |
a |
a- as in ‘fathe’, but shorter; |
a |
Мама |
|
Б б |
be |
b - hard as in ‘boss‘ or ‘boy’ ; soft as in ‘albiorn’ |
b |
hard: брат |
|
В в |
ve |
v - hard as in ‘vase’ or ‘very’ ; soft as in ‘view’ |
v |
hard: новый soft: новейший |
|
Г г |
ge |
g - hard as in ‘God’ ‘go’ or soft as in ‘argue’ |
g |
hard: много |
|
Д д |
de |
d - hard as in ‘day’ or ‘dog’ ; soft as in ‘dew’ |
d |
hard: награда |
|
Е е |
ye |
Softens preceding consonants. ye - as in ‘yet’ or ‘yell’ - in the initial position, before hard consonants, after vowels and after ь and ъ. |
ye, e |
with y: ехать |
|
Ё ё |
yo |
Softens preceding consonants. Always stressed! yo - as in ‘your’ or ‘beyond’ |
yo, o |
with y: ёж |
|
Ж ж |
zhe |
‘zh’ or as ‘sh’ in ‘pleasure’, ‘measure’ |
ʒ |
Жить Желание |
|
З з |
ze |
z - hard as in ‘zebra’, ‘zero’ or soft as in ‘resume’, ‘desire’ |
z |
завтра |
|
И и |
i |
Softens preceding consonants. i: - stressed as in ‘Easter’, ‘seen’, ‘street’; i - unstressed as in ‘pip’; |
i:, i, ɨ |
один |
|
Й й |
i |
y - sound as in ‘yoga’ or ‘yellow’ - in the initial position after vowels |
i, y, j |
мой |
|
К к |
ka |
k - hard as in ‘can’ or ‘come’ ; soft as in ‘key’ or ‘kiss’ |
k |
hard: кот |
|
Л л |
el |
l - hard as in ‘look’ or ‘call’; soft as in ‘million’ |
l |
hard: белый |
|
М м |
em |
m - hard as in ‘man’ or ‘monkey’ ; soft as in ‘Muse’ or ‘mutual’ |
m |
hard: масло |
|
Н н |
en |
n - hard as in ‘null’ or ‘nose’ ; soft as in ‘new’ or ‘nice’ |
n |
hard: ныть |
|
О о |
o |
o - if stressed long as in ‘obey’ or ‘oil’; |
o, a, ə or ɔ |
long: нóвый |
|
П п |
pe |
p - hard as in ‘play’, ‘pet’ or soft as in ‘peer’ |
p |
hard: пат |
|
Р р |
er |
r - hard trilled with the tip of the tongue ‘Russia’ or soft ‘Orient’ |
r |
hard: рукá |
|
С с |
es |
s - hard as in ‘some’, ‘see’ , ‘small’ or soft as in ‘assume’, ‘sue’ |
s |
hard: суд |
|
Т т |
te |
t - hard, as in ‘time’, ‘tent’ (unaspirated!) or soft as in ‘tulip’, ‘tune’ |
t |
hard: тонуть |
|
У у |
u |
ou – sound as in ‘you’ Also like ‘oo‘ but shorter in ‘goose’ ‘boom’ |
u |
думать |
|
Ф ф |
ef |
f - hard as in ‘food’ ,‘far’ or soft as in ‘few’ |
f |
hard: кафé |
|
Х х |
kha |
No English equivalent. ch - hard similar to Scottish ‘Loch‘ or soft like in German ‘Bach’, ‘ich’ |
ch |
hard: хохотать |
|
Ц ц |
tse |
Always hard. ts - sound as in ‘tsar’, ’sits’ |
ts |
цвет |
|
Ч ч |
tche |
Always soft. ch - sound as in ‘cheers’, ‘change’, ‘child’ |
ʧ |
учить |
|
Ш ш |
sha |
Always hard. sh - sound as in ‘show’, ‘shy’, ‘sure’ |
ʃ |
школа |
|
Щ щ |
tsha |
Always soft. sh+ch as in ‘fresh cheeks’ sh+sh as in ‘rush show’ |
ʃtʃ or ʃʃ |
ещё |
|
Ъ ъ |
tvyordyi znak (hard sign) |
The hard sign is not pronounced. Rarely used and indicates a slight pause between syllables. |
sometimes ‘j’ |
подъезд |
|
Ы ы |
ɨ |
No English equivalent. A retracted variety of ‘i’ pronounced with the tongue blocking the throat. i -as in ‘sir’ or ‘hill’ Also like ‘ea’ sound in ‘seal’ |
y |
ты |
|
Ь ь |
myachkiy znak (soft sign) |
The soft sign is not pronounced. Makes the previous letter soft, or as if there is a after the consonant. |
sometimes ‘j’ |
дверь |
|
Э э |
ε |
‘ε‘ or ‘e‘ similar to ’set’ Sound like ‘a’ in ‘make’ |
ε, e |
это |
|
Ю ю |
yu |
Softens preceding consonant. yu - as in ‘yule’ , ‘you’ u - sound in ‘use’ or ’university’ not as in ‘up’ |
ju, u |
юмор |
|
Я я |
ya |
Softens preceding consonant. ja - sound as in ‘yard’ or ‘yahoo’ |
ja |
Яблоко
|
