The Russian Alphabet
Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet — 33 letters. It looks scary at first, but here is the good news: some of the letters already look and sound like English, and the rest you can learn in a few days. Once you can sound out letters, you can read real words — so this is step one. Next to every Russian letter we show its sound in (brackets).
Group 1 — letters you already know
These five letters look like English letters and sound almost the same. You can read them right now.
| Letter | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| А а | a in "father" | мама (mama) — mom |
| К к | k in "kite" | кот (kot) — cat |
| М м | m in "man" | мост (most) — bridge |
| О о | o in "more" | окно (okno) — window |
| Т т | t in "top" | торт (tort) — cake |
Group 2 — the "false friends"
These letters look like English ones but make a different sound. They trip up beginners, so learn them carefully.
| Letter | Looks like | But sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| В в | B | v in "van" | вода (voda) — water |
| Е е | E | ye in "yes" | енот (yenot) — raccoon |
| Н н | H | n in "no" | нос (nos) — nose |
| Р р | P | rolled r | река (reka) — river |
| С с | C | s in "sun" | сын (syn) — son |
| У у | Y | oo in "boot" | утро (utro) — morning |
| Х х | X | ch in "loch" | хлеб (khleb) — bread |
Group 3 — brand-new letters
These shapes are new to you. Many map to a single English sound — learn them and you have the whole alphabet.
| Letter | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Б б | b in "boy" | брат (brat) — brother |
| Г г | g in "go" | город (gorod) — city |
| Д д | d in "dog" | дом (dom) — house |
| З з | z in "zoo" | зима (zima) — winter |
| И и | ee in "see" | мир (mir) — peace/world |
| Л л | l in "lamp" | луна (luna) — moon |
| П п | p in "pen" | парк (park) — park |
| Ф ф | f in "fun" | факт (fakt) — fact |
| Э э | e in "met" | это (eto) — this |
| Letter | Sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Й й | y in "boy" (short) | чай (chay) — tea |
| Ё ё | yo in "yonder" | ёлка (yolka) — fir tree |
| Ю ю | u in "universe" | юг (yug) — south |
| Я я | ya in "yard" | яблоко (yabloko) — apple |
| Ж ж | s in "measure" | жена (zhena) — wife |
| Ц ц | ts in "cats" | центр (tsentr) — centre |
| Ч ч | ch in "chair" | час (chas) — hour |
| Ш ш | sh in "shop" | школа (shkola) — school |
| Щ щ | soft "sh" | щи (shee) — cabbage soup |
The two signs that make no sound
Two letters are not sounds at all — they are signs that change the letter before them and/or separate
Read your first words
You now know every letter. Try sounding these out — cover the reading and check yourself.