The Cyrillic Alphabet
Welcome to Russian!
Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet — 33 letters total. Many look like Latin letters, some look familiar but sound different, and some are completely new.
The Alphabet
| Cyrillic | Latin approx | Sound example |
|---|---|---|
| А а | A | father |
| Б б | B | book |
| В в | V | vine |
| Г г | G | go |
| Д д | D | door |
| Е е | YE | yes |
| Ё ё | YO | yolk |
| Ж ж | ZH | pleasure |
| З з | Z | zoo |
| И и | I | machine |
| Й й | Y | boy |
| К к | K | kite |
| Л л | L | lamp |
| М м | M | map |
| Н н | N | not |
| О о | O | more |
| П п | P | pen |
| Р р | R | rolled R |
| С с | S | sun |
| Т т | T | top |
| У у | U | boot |
| Ф ф | F | fish |
| Х х | KH | loch |
| Ц ц | TS | cats |
| Ч ч | CH | chair |
| Ш ш | SH | shop |
| Щ щ | SHCH | fresh cheese |
| Ъ ъ | hard sign | (no sound, affects prev. consonant) |
| Ы ы | Y | roses (stressed) |
| Ь ь | soft sign | softens previous consonant |
| Э э | E | bet |
| Ю ю | YU | you |
| Я я | YA | yard |
Letters That Look Familiar But Are Different
⚠️ Watch out! These Cyrillic letters look like Latin but have different sounds:
| Looks like | Actually sounds like |
|---|---|
| Р | R (not P!) |
| С | S (not C!) |
| Н | N (not H!) |
| В | V (not B!) |
| Х | KH (like Scottish “loch”) |
Practice
What sound does Р make in Russian?
R (rolled) — NOT 'P'!
How do you pronounce Ж?
Like the 's' in 'pleasure' or 'zh' — a buzzing sound
What are the two silent letters called?
Ъ (hard sign) and Ь (soft sign) — they affect the consonant before them but make no sound themselves