In this lesson we will learn the Russian alphabet and its letters.
The Russian alphabet uses letters from the Cyrillic script.
It consists of 33 letters:
- 10 vowels - а, е, ё, и, о, у, ы, э, ю, я
- 21 consonants - б, в, г, д, ж, з, й, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ
- 2 signs - ъ, ь
But don’t get overwhelmed just yet. Read the letters and try to pronounce them out loud.
If you are having trouble with the letters, I have attached an audio file of the Russian alphabet below:
Shall we get started?
| LETTER | SOUND | EXAMPLE |
|---|---|---|
| А а | аh | as the a in art |
| Б б | b | as the b in book |
| В в | v | as the v in vase |
| Г г | g | as the g in goat |
| Д д | d | as the d in dad |
| Е е | yeh | as the ye in yes |
| Ё ё | yoh | as the yo in your |
| Ж ж | zh | as the s in leisure |
| З з | z | as the z in zoo |
| И и | ee | as the ee in feet |
| Й й | y | as the y in toy |
| К к | k | as the k in tank |
| Л л | l | as the l in lock |
| М м | m | as the m in mom |
| Н н | n | as the n in nest |
| О о | oh | as the o in more |
| П п | p | as the p in pirate |
| Р р | r | as the r in rock |
| С с | s | as the s in song |
| Т т | t | as the t in time |
| У у | oo | as the oo in balloon |
| Ф ф | f | as the f in foot |
| Х х | h | as the h in hard |
| Ц ц | ts | as the ts in boots |
| Ч ч | ch | as the ch in chance |
| Ш ш | sh | as the sh in show |
| Щ щ | soft sh | as the sh in sheep |
| Ъ ъ | hard sign | has no sound |
| Ы ы | i | as the i in still |
| Ь ь | soft sign | has no sound |
| Э э | eh | as the e in end |
| Ю ю | yoo | as the u in use |
| Я я | ya | as the ya in yard |
Want to learn more Russian Basics?
Check out the following lessons:
Colors in Russian
Russian Numbers
Common Russian Phrases
Common Russian Words