Russian Alphabet

Russian Alphabet

Letters that are familiar

А а - Pronounced like the "a" in the word "father" or "car". It
is not the 'flat' "a" sound you sometimes hear in words like
"cat" or "flat".

К к - Pronounced like the "k" in "kitten" or "kangaroo". This
letter replaces the english "c" sound in words like "cat".

Letters that are familiar

М м - Pronounced like the "m" in man. (Note: Unlike english, the hand-written
"м" should always start from the bottom)

O o - When stressed, it is pronounced like the "o" in "bore". When un-stressed it
is pronounced more like the letter "a". (See later notes.)

Т т - Pronounced like the "t" in "tap". (Note: The hand-written (and italic) form is
"т". It should always start from the top, as it looks quite similar to the letter "м")

Letters that Look like English but sound different

В в - Pronounced like the "v" in "vet". (Equivalent to the english
letter "v").

Е е - Pronounced like the "ye" in "yes".

Н н - Pronounced like the "n" in "no". (Equivalent to the english
letter "n").

Р р - Pronounced like the "r" in "run", but it is rolled. (Equivalent to
the english letter "r").

Letters that Look like English but sound different

С с - Pronounced like the "s" in "see". (Equivalent to the english letter "s").
(It might help to remember that it's used like the "s" sound in the english
words "centre" and "cent".)

У у - Pronounced like the "oo" in "boot" or "root".

Х х - Pronounced like the "h" in "hello". However, this is often pronounced
more like the "ch" in the Scottish "Loch" or German "Bach", or the mexican
pronunciation of "x" in "Mexico".

These look familiar but have familiar sounds

Б б - Pronounced like the "b" in "bat". (Equivalent to the English letter "b").

Г г - Pronounced like the "g" in "go". (Equivalent to the English letter "g").

Д д - Pronounced like the "d" in "dog". (Equivalent to the English letter "d").

З з - Pronounced like the "z" in "zoo". (Equivalent to the English letter "z").

И и - Pronounced like the "i" in "taxi". (Sometimes equivalent to the English
letter "i", the short 'ee' sound.). (Note: The hand-written form for "и" looks a little
like the English "u")

These look unusual but have familiar sounds

Л л - Pronounced like the "l" in "love". (Equivalent to the English
letter "l").

П п - Pronounced like the "p" in "pot". (Equivalent to the English
letter "p").

Ф ф - Pronounced like the "f" in "fat". (Equivalent to the English letter
"f").

Э э - Pronounced like the "e" in "fed".

New Russian Letters and sounds

Ю ю - Pronounced like the "u" in "universe". (Pronounced much like
the english word "you").

Я я - Pronounced like the "ya" in "yard".

Ё ё - Pronounced like "yo" in "yonder". (Note: In modern Russian you
may find this letter simply written as Е е.)

New Russian Letters and sounds

Ж ж - Like "s" in "measure", "pleasure" or "fusion" or like "g" in colour
"beige". (As there is no English symbol for this sound, it is usually
represented as "zh")

Ц ц - Similar to the "ts" sound in "sits" or "its".

Ч ч - Pronounced like the "ch" in "chips" or "church" .

Ш ш - Pronounced like the "sh" in shut.

New Russian Letters and sounds

Щ щ - Pronounced like "sh" but with your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Try
putting your tongue in the same position as you would to say "ch" but say "sh"
instead. English speakers may find it hard to define the difference between "ш"
and "щ".

Ы ы - Pronounced like the "i" in "bit" or "ill". (Said with your tongue slightly back
in your mouth.)

Й й - This letter is used to form diphthongs. So "oй" is like the "oy" sound in
"boy" or "aй" is like the "igh" in "sigh".

Pronunciation symbols

Ъ ъ - The 'Hard Sign' is rarely used. It indicates a slight pause between syllables.

Ь ь - The 'Soft Sign' makes the previous letter 'soft'. Think of the "p" sound in the word
"pew". (Try inflecting a very slight "y" sound onto letter before it.)