Russian Alphabet

Listen to the Russian letters and example words by clicking the picture.

A a

a - апельси́н (orange)

a as in father

Б б

бэ - банк (bank)

b as in but

В в

вэ - врач (doctor)

v as in voice

Г г

гэ - газе́та (newspaper)

g as in god

Д д

дэ - дом (house)

d as in do

Е е

e - еда́ (food)

ye as in yes

Ё ё

ё - ёж (hedgehog)

yo as in yogurt

Ж ж

жэ - же́нщина (woman)

s as in measure

З з

зэ - зонт (umbrella)

z as in zoo

И и

и - игру́шка (toy)

i as in did

Й й

и кра́ткое - йо́гурт (yogurt)

y as in play

К к

ка - ко́шка (cat)

c as in cat

Л л

эл - лес (forest)

l as in love

М м

эм - Москва́ (Moscow)

m as in mother

Н н

эн - неде́ля (week)

n as in nose

О о

о - окно́ (window)

o as in boy

П п

пэ - пода́рок (present)

p as in pay

Р р

эр - ры́ба (fish)

r as in rose

С с

эс - соба́ка (dog)

s as in son

Т т

тэ - телефо́н (telephone)

t as in but

У у

у - у́лица (street)

u as in push

Ф ф

эф - фильм (movie)

f as in film

Х х

ха - хлеб (bread)

h as in high

Ц ц

цэ - цвет (color)

t´s as in let´s

Ч ч

че - часы́ (clock)

ch as in chair

Ш ш

ша - шко́ла (school)

sh as in shall

Щ щ

ща - щи (cabbage soup)

sh ch as in Welsh church

Ъ ъ

твёрдый знак - объявле́ние (advertisement)

no independent sound

Ы ы

ы - сыр (cheese)

between i as in lit and u as in sugar

Ь ь

ь - мышь (mouse)

no independent sound

Э э

э - эне́ргия (energy)

e as in edit

Ю ю

ю - ю́бка (skirt)

u as in usual

Я я

я - я́блоко (apple)

ya as in yacht

The letters above are presented in alphabetical order. There are 31 sounds:

• 21 consonants: б, в, г, д, ж, з, й. к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ and
• 10 vowels: а, е, ё, и, о, у, ы, э, ю, я.
• The consonant й (short i) is sometimes called a semivowel.

The soft sign ь and hard sign ъ do not have a sound of their own. Ъ is relatively rare and occurs only in a limited number of words that start with a prefix ending in a consonant. There it is placed between the prefix and the word stem, as in объявление (announcement) and съезд (conference).

Ь is placed after consonants for softening them. Listen to a few examples:

Regardless of the different alphabet, the Russian sounds are very similar to English and are therefore easy to learn.