RUSSIAN LANGUAGE LESSON 1

Russian Alphabet
Main lesson:
The Russian alphabet is easy to learn! Learning the alphabet is the first step to learning the
Russian language. Even if you don't plan to learn the language, knowing the alphabet is great for
travelling because you can read all the street and shop signs. It may seem daunting to learn a new
alphabet, but it is relatively easy. In fact, the great thing about Russian is that almost all words can
be sounded out as they are written. Unlike English where the pronunciation of a word may not be
clear from its written form. Russian also has one letter to one sound, unlike English where two
letters often make one sound. (Example “sh”).

Either before or after this lesson we recommend you print the alphabet table, and stick it up next to
the computer (or around the house), to help you with the following lessons.

The Russian alphabet is also known as the Cyrillic alphabet. There are 33 letters in the Russian
alphabet. 11 vowels, 20 consonants, and 2 pronunciation signs. Here is what the Russian
alphabet looks like (in dictionary order).

А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й, К, Л, М, Н, О, П, Р, С, Т, У, Ф, Х, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ъ, Ы, Ь, Э, Ю, Я

Now let's have a look at these letters in detail. For your reference we will make some notes about
unusual hand-written forms, however this will be covered in another lesson so don't worry too
much yet.

Russian letters that are (almost) the same.

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".

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")

Russian letters that look like english letters but sound different.
(These are the most important to learn so you don't get them mixed up.)
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").

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

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".

Russian letters that look unusual, 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").

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

(The sounds will be familiar, but they don't have their own letter in English).
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.)

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.

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".

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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
(These letters have no sound on their own, but are still considered letters.).
Ъ ъ - The 'Hard Sign' is rarely used. It indicates a slight pause between sylables.

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.)

A note about vowels

You may have noticed that there are often two forms of a vowel, hard and soft. It may help to note
the corresponding vowels.

А ("a") Я ("ya")
Э ("e") Е ("ye")
У ("oo") Ю ("yoo")
О ("o") Ё ("yo")
Ы and И are corresponding vowels but don't really follow this pattern.
Й is also considered a vowel
The "y" sound is always pronounced. It may take some time to get used to pronouncing it with
consonants. Try the following:

Нет (No) - Pronounced "nyet". This is one syllable.

Семь (Seven) - Pronounced "syem".
Пять (Five) - Pronounced "pyat"
Метрo (Metro, underground railway) - Pronounced "mye-tro".

Click the green play icon to listen to the word pronounced in Russian.

Spelling Rule 1.
There is a rule for spelling in russian you should keep in mind: "Never write Ы, Ю, or Я after the
letters 'Г, К, Ж, Х, Ч, Ш, Щ' instead use И, У, А".

It is not important to worry about this yet, but it will help you understand how things are spelt in
later lessons.

A note about stress.

In most languages, including English, some syllables are emphasised more than others. A good
example would be the word “photograph”, where the first syllable is stressed. Compare this to
“Photography” where the second symbol is stressed. Phonetically the sound of the vowel changes.

Russian works in much the same way. However in some words it’s important to know which
syllable is stressed, this is because the letter “o” is pronounced very differently depending on
whether it’s stressed or not. Other stressed vowels are important, but if you only remember the “o”
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rule, then you will still be able to speak well. Once you start to hear Russians speak, you will be
able to copy the way they are pronouncing words. (On this site we will indicate a stressed vowel
by underlining it. However, we will only do this to the first occurrences of a word. One syllable
words are assumed to be stressed.)

Take notice of the following examples:

До свидания (good-bye) - Pronounced "da-svee-da-nee-ye". (The до is pronounced as if it is

part of the next word).
Спасибо (thank-you) - Pronounced "spa-see-ba".
Да(yes) - Pronounced "da".
Нет(no) - Pronounced "nyet".
сто(100) - Pronounced "sto".
Пока(Bye)
Плохо(Bad)
Хорошо(Good)
Some Listening Practice
There are many more examples in the following lessons that also have Russian audio that you can
listen to. It is important you learn the sounds by listening to the Russian audio in the following
lessons. If you learn by listening, your speach will be much clearer.

There are hours of audio on this site. Here are some example sentences to get you started. Don't
worry about learning the words, just try to learn the sounds of the letters.

Моя мама любит музыку - (My mother loves music)

шесть книг - (six books)
семь газет - (seven newspapers)
восемь зданий - (eight buildings)
девять собак - (nine dogs)
десять студентов - (ten students)
сто рублей - (one hundred roubles)
сто долларов - (one hundred dollars)
Video
Use this video to help you learn the alphabet. Take me to Youtube

Russian Hanwriting
If you need a little help with your Russian handwritting try watching this little video
(YouTube): Handwriting Video

Conclusion
You have now seen how the whole alphabet works and is pronounced. It is time to practice, go to
the exercises section of this lesson. Here you will be able to practice your new skills, reading

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words that are almost the same as the English equivalent. You may also wish to print a copy of
the alphabet table for reference in future lessons.

You may also like to try our Russian Language Trainer to help you memorise what you have learnt
in this Russian lesson.

Home

Alphabet Table:
In the table below is the full Russian alphabet in presented in dictionary order. It would also be
useful to learn how to say the Russian letters.

The Russian Alphabet

Russian English Letter Name in

Sound
Character Equivalent Russian

Аа Аа Like "a" in car "ah"

Бб Bb Like "b" in bat "beh"

Вв Vv Like "v" in van "veh"

Гг Gg Like "g" in go "geh"

Дд Dd Like "d" in dog "deh"

Ее YE ye Like "ye" in yet "yeh"

Ёё YO yo Like "yo" in yonder "yo"

Like "s" in measure or pleasure

Жж Zh zh "zheh"
or like "g" in beige (the colour)

Зз Zz Like "z" in zoo "zeh"

Ии EE ee Like "ee" in see "ee"

Йй I i or Y y like "y" in boy or toy "ee kratkoyeh"

Кк Kk Like "k" in kitten, "c" in cat. "kah"

Лл Ll Like "l" in light "ehl"

Мм Mm Like "m" in mat "ehm"

Нн Nn Like "n" in no "ehn"

Stressed: O o Like "o" in bore

Оо "oh"
Unstressed: A a Like "a" in car

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 Пп Pp Like "p" in pot "peh"

Рр Rr Like "r" in run (rolled) "ehr"

Сс Ss Like "s" in sam "ehs"

Тт Tt Like "t" in tap "teh"

Уу Uu Like "oo" in boot "oo"

Фф Ff Like "f" in fat "ehf"

Like "h" in hello or like

Хх H h, KH kh the "ch" in Scottish 'loch' or "khah"
German 'Bach'

Цц TS ts Like "ts" in bits "tseh"

Чч CH ch Like "ch" in chip "cheh"

Шш SH sh (hard) Like "sh" in shut "shah"

Щщ SH sh (soft) Like "sh" in sheep "schyah"

Ъъ Hard Sign Letter before is hard "tvyordiy znahk"

Ыы Ii Like "i" in ill "i"

Ьь Soft Sign Letter before is soft "myagkeey znahk"

Ээ Ee Like "e" in pet "eh"

Юю YU yu Like "u" in use or university "yoo"

Яя YA ya Like "ya" in yard. "yah"

The table below gives you the normal printed version of the russian characters, and the cursive
(italic) version of the character. The letters which are significantly different are noted in red. It is
worth learning these. The cursive characters are often used in signs and they also are similar to
the hand-written form of Russian.

А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я
а б в г д е ё ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ы ь э ю я
А Б В Г Д Е Ё Ж З И Й К Л М Н О П Р С Т У Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ Ъ Ы Ь Э Ю Я
а б в г д е ё ж з и й к л м н о п р с т у ф х ц ч ш щ ъ ы ь э ю я

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Exercises1:
Here are some exercises to help you learn the Russian alphabet. You may be surprised how many
Russian words you are now able to recognise now that you can sound out the words.

1. Places spelt in Russian 2. Russian Signs

Try reading the following words in russian. Here are some signs you might see while you
They are cities from around the world. are in Russia. See if you can understand
them.
Лондон....................................................
Токио....................................................... Аэропорт................................................
Амстердам............................................. Туалет.....................................................
Мадрид................................................... Ресторан.................................................
Санкт Петербург.................................... Бар...........................................................
Такси.......................................................
Now try to recognise these countries written
in Russian, their names should sound similar 3. Russian words that are similar
to English. in english
Англия..................................................... Try reading the following words in russian.
Канада..................................................... You should be able to work out what they
Корея....................................................... mean.
Бразилия................................................
Нидерланды.......................................... Опера.....................................................
Австралия.............................................. Суп.........................................................
Португалия............................................. Спорт.....................................................
Америка.................................................. Футбол..................................................
Мексика................................................... гимнастика............................................
Германия................................................ Волейбол..............................................
Меню......................................................
Кофе......................................................
Кафе.......................................................

You may also wish to try our Russian Language Trainer to help you remember some of this
lesson.

Answers
1a: London, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Madrid, St. Petersburg
1b: England, Canada, Korea, Brazil, Netherlands, Australia, Portugal, America, Mexico, Germany.
2: Airport, Toilet, Resturant, Bar, Taxi.
3: Opera, Soup, Sport, Football, Gymnastics, Volleyball, Menu, Coffee, Cafe

Recommended Books For Learning Russian

The New Penguin Russian Course: A Complete Course for Beginners - Probably the best course
in a book.

Russian-English Bilingual Visual Dictionary - A visual dictionary with lots of illustrated examples.

A Comprehensive Russian Grammar - A great reference on Russian grammar.

The Big Silver Book of Russian Verbs - A great reference book of conjugated Russian verbs.
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Russian Learners' Dictionary: 10,000 Russian Words in Frequency Order - A simple but powerful
concept. Expand your vocabulary by learning the most used words first.