The Russian alphabet contains 33 letters. Some of them look like the Latin letters you’re used to, some don’t, and some look the same as Latin letters but have completely different sounds.
| Аа sound: ah name: ah cursive: Аа |
Бб sound: b name: beh cursive: Бб |
Вв sound: v name: veh cursive: Вв |
Гг sound: g (hard) name: geh cursive: Гг |
Дд sound: d name: deh cursive: Дд |
Ее sound: ye name: yeh cursive: Ее |
| Ёё sound: yo name: yo cursive: Ёё |
Жж sound: zh name: zheh cursive: Жж |
Зз sound: z name: zeh cursive: Зз |
Ии sound: ee name: ee cursive: Ии |
Кк sound: k name: kah cursive: Кк |
Лл sound: l name: el cursive: Лл |
| Mм sound: m name: em cursive: Мм |
Hн sound: n name: en cursive: Нн |
Oо sound: oh, ah name: oh cursive: Оо |
Пп sound: p name: peh cursive: Пп |
Pр sound: r name: ehr cursive: Рр |
Cс sound: s name: ess cursive: Сс |
| Tт sound: t name: teh cursive: Тт |
Yу sound: oo name: oo cursive: Уу |
Фф sound: f name: ef cursive: Фф |
Xх sound: kh name: khah cursive: Хх |
Цц sound: ts name: tseh cursive: Цц |
Чч sound: ch name: cheh cursive: Чч |
| Шш sound: sh name: shah cursive: Шш |
Щщ sound: shch name: schyah cursive: Щщ |
Ыы sound: iy name: ih cursive: Ыы |
Ээ sound: eh name: eh cursive: Ээ |
Юю sound: yoo name: yoo cursive: Юю |
Яя sound: ya name: ya cursive: Яя |
| Йй This letter is used to extended or soften vowels, like English y. name: ee kratkoyeh краткое is an adjective meaning short or brief. cursive: Йй |
Ьь This letter is used to soften both consonants preceding it and vowels following it. name: myagkey znak мягкий = soft, знак = sign: in English this letter is called the soft sign. cursive: Ьь |
| Ъъ This letter is used to harden both consonants preceding it and vowels following it. name: tvyordiy znak твёрдый = hard, знак = sign: in English this letter is called the hard sign. cursive: Ъъ |
When the stress in a word falls on е, its sound often becomes that of ё. For this reason, you may see many words with a stressed е spelled with a ё instead- the pronounciation is the same either way. This is true for many multi-syllable words.
You'll learn more about the properties of Russian letters- soft and hard consonants and vowels, the soft and hard signs, and more- in the spelling rules lesson and throughout learning Russian!