The Russian Alphabet

How difficult is the Russian alphabet?

Many students are scared of the Russian (Cyrillic) alphabet and think it's difficult to learn it.

However, the Russian alphabet is much easier than most people think. It has 33 letters, many of which look and sound very similar to English letters, such as Т and М.

Besides that, Russian words are usually written exactly as they are pronounced, unlike in other languages such as English and French.

So, we can conclude that students shouldn't have any problems mastering the Russian alphabet.

And to make the learning process easier, I made sure to include many examples with audio, so you can hear the sound of each letter.

The lesson also includes interactive exercises, which are going to further help you practice this subject.

Russian Vowels

The Russian language has 10 vowels. Let's take a look at each of them.

1) А а

The Russian А is similar to the English A in the words ‘father’ and ‘car’.

• а

For example:

• машина (car)
• лампа (lamp)

2) Э э

The Russian Э has a sound similar to that of E in the words ‘end’ and ‘rent’.

• э

For example:

• это (this)
• энергия (energy)

3) О о

The Russian О, when it appears in the stressed syllable, has a sound similar to that of O in the words ‘or’ and ‘board’.

• о

For example:

• стол (table)
• дом (house)

When О appears in an unstressed syllable, it has the sound of A as in the words ‘father’ and ‘car’. For example:

• хорошо (well)

Note that only the last О, which is stressed, has the sound of O. The other two have the sound of A.

4) У у

The Russian У is pronounced in a similar way to OO in the words ‘book’ or ‘cook’.

• у

For example:

• университет (university)
• умный (smart)

5) И и

The Russian И has a sound similar to that of EE in the words ‘see’ or ‘bee’.

• и

For example:

• интересный (interesting)
• история (history)

6) Ы ы

The Russian Ы doesn’t have an equivalent sound in English. However, it can be compared to the vowel sound you hear in the exclamation of disgust ‘ugh’.

• ы

For example:

• рыба (fish)
• быть (to be)

7) Е е

The Russian Е has a sound similar to YE in the words ‘yes’ or ‘yellow’.

• е

For example:

• привет (hi)
• евро (euro)

8) Ё ё

The Russian Ё has a sound similar to YO in the words ‘York’ and ‘your’ (British English).

• ё

For example:

• ёлка (fir tree)
• тётя (aunt)

9) Ю ю

The Russian Ю is pronounced in a similar way to the English pronoun ‘you’ or the name of the letter U.

• ю

For example:

• любить (to love)
• июль (July)

10) Я я

The Russian Я has a sound similar to YA in the words ‘yard’ or ‘yarn’.

• я

For example:

• пять (five)
• яблоко (apple)

Russian Consonants

The Russian language has 21 consonants. Let's go over them one by one.

1) Б б

The consonant Б has the same sound as the English B.

• б

For example:

• бабушка (grandmother)
• банан (banana)

2) В в

The consonant В has the same sound as the English V.

• в

For example:

• вода (water)
• вещь (thing)

3) Г г

The consonant Г has the same sound as the English G in the words ‘garden’ and ‘give’.

• г

For example:

• город (city)
• говорить (to speak)

4) Д д

The consonant Д is almost the same as the English D. But unlike in English, it’s pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed against the upper teeth.

• д

For example:

• дом (house)
• дочь (daughter)

5) Ж ж

The consonant Ж is pronounced in a similar way to S in the words ‘measure’ and ‘pleasure’.

• ж

For example:

• женщина (woman)
• жизнь (life)

6) З з

The consonant З has the same sound as the English Z.

• з

For example:

• зоопарк (zoo)
• глаза (eyes)

7) Й й

The consonant Й is similar to Y in the words ‘yogurt’ and ‘yes’.

• й

For example:

• мой (my)
• красивый (beautiful)

8) К к

The Russian consonant К is just like the English K.

• к

For example:

• кошка (cat)
• когда (when)

9) Л л

The consonant Л is almost the same as the English L. But unlike in English, it’s pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed against the upper teeth.

• л

For example:

• лампа (lamp)
• голова (head)

10) М м

The Russian М is the same as the English M.

• м

For example:

• мать (mother)
• время (time)

11) Н н

The consonant Н has virtually the same sound as the English N. But unlike in English, it’s pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed against the upper teeth.

• н

For example:

• нога (leg)
• наш (our)

12) П п

The consonant П has the same sound as the English P, but it is never aspirated (there is no breath in the pronunciation of the Russian П).

• п

For example:

• пол (floor)
• потом (later)

13) Р р

The consonant Р has a sound similar to the English R, but there is a vibration of the tongue in the pronunciation of the Russian R (you have to roll your r's). Some accents in the UK and some Romance languages have an R similar to the Russian Р.

• р

For example:

• Россия (Russia)
• друг (friend)

14) С с

The consonant С has the same sound as the English S.

• с

For example:

• сын (son)
• солнце (sun)

15) Т т

The Russian Т is very similar to the English T. But unlike in English, it’s pronounced with the tip of the tongue pressed against the upper teeth. Moreover, it’s never aspirated (there is no breath in the pronunciation of the Russian Т).

• т

For example:

• там (there)
• что (what)

16) Ф ф

The consonant Ф has the same sound as the English F.

• ф

For example:

• фото (photo)
• фамилия (surname)

17) Х х

The consonant Х has the same sound as CH in the word ‘Loch Ness’ or a sound similar to H in the words ‘hello’ and ‘happy’.

• х

For example:

• хорошо (good)
• хотеть (to want)

18) Ц ц

The consonant Ц has the same sound as TS in the word ‘tsunami’.

• ц

For example:

• церковь (church)
• цирк (circus)

19) Ч ч

The consonant Ч is pronounced in a similar way to CH in the words ‘chair’ and ‘child’.

• ч

For example:

• чёрный (black)
• час (hour)

20) Ш ш

The consonant Ш is pronounced in a similar way to SH in the word ‘short’, but it’s a bit harder (similar to the German ‘sch’).

• ш

For example:

• шутка (joke)
• шорты (shorts)

21) Щ щ

The consonant Щ has almost the same sound as SH in English. It sounds very soft.

• щ

For example:

• женщина (woman)
• щенок (puppy)

Russian Hard and Soft Signs

The Russian language also has a hard and a soft sign.

1) Ь ь

The soft sign is Ь. In Russian, it is called мягкий знак.

This letter doesn’t have any sound when used on its own. The main function of the soft sign, as the name suggests, is to make the preceding consonant soft. For example:

• день (day)

In the word ‘день’, Н is soft. It’s pronounced as GN in ‘cognac’.

2) Ъ ъ

The hard sign is Ъ. In Russian, it is called твёрдый знак.

This letter doesn’t have any sound when used on its own either. The main function of the hard sign is to separate two sounds in a word. For example:

• объект (object)

In this word, Ъ separates the sounds of the letters Б and Е. If there wasn’t a hard sign in this word, Б and Е would be pronounced together.