Learn the Russian Alphabet

There are three steps to learning Russian alphabet- the Cyrillic script:

1. Typeface letters
2. Italic letters
3. Pronunciation

Learn Letters First

Learn letters first, then the pronunciation. Your pronunciation will not be correct until you cover the pronunciation section, for the same reason that in English the letter {a} is not always pronounced /æ/. So this page is only to familiarize yourself with the Russian alphabet and their rough pronunciation.

I recently released the book "Glossika Guide to Russian Pronunciation and Grammar" which you can download for free in PDF format, or get on Google Play books.

After you've learned how to read the Russian alphabet, you'll have to make adjustments to learn how to pronounce correctly because the letters undergo quite a few changes. This is important to gain a good accent and be able to be understood.

The Russian Alphabet Step by Step

Glossika's approach to language learning is to focus on practicing lots of things rather than memorizing grammar tables.

I strongly recommend to read through the contents of the tables below, line by line, so that you can feel the patterns as they emerge.

By the time you finish reading the following word list, you should be able to read almost any word in Russian. Then you can start working on the aspects of pronunciation covered in the PDF.

When you start learning any foreign alphabet, including the Russian alphabet, I always recommend writing out the transcription in Roman letters first. This allows you to focus on recognizing each letter. Later, as you get better at it, you can start sounding out words on sight, then start practicing the letter shapes of your new alphabet. Preferably with pen and paper.

Since you're reading this on your device or computer screen, it's okay. You can try to sound out each word as you go along.

The following list of words makes use of lots of foreign words that you may already recognize. The point here is to get up and running in reading Russian as quickly and easily as possible. This should only take you a few minutes.

Your first five letters are exactly the same as their Roman counterparts:
А, а, О, о, М, м, Т, т, К, к

Try to match the following words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

том, акт, какао, атом

The next letter is Р р which is Roman r. It originally comes from Greek. Some of these words are the same as English, so you should be able to recognize several of them.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

торт, мотор, арка, карта, аорта, трактор, аромат

The next letter is Н н which is Roman n. Again, these are foreign words borrowed into Russian so if you're reading them correctly, you should be able to recognize them.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

танк, нато, нота, контакт, контракт, норма, роман

The next letter is Е е which is Roman ě, pronounced like English ye.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

мекка, тема, метр, метро, театр, момент, океан, номер, манера

The next letter is П п which is Roman p. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

порт, парк, темп, пакет, портрет, проект, опера

The next letter is В в which is Roman v. It originally comes from Greek. This letter is used in many words spelled with u in Latin.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

квота, автомат, автор, ванна, нерв, ветеран

The next letter is Л л which is Roman l. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

молоко, канал, Атланта, атлет, металл, реклама, плакат, лампа, план, парламент

The next letter is Д д which is Roman d. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

код, дом, дата, мода, доктор, драма, Канада, дракон, метод, демократ, декан, парад, адвокат, Невада, Лондон

The next letter is С с which is Roman s. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

космос, касса, масса, маска, сорт, нос, соната, текст, оркестр, сенатор, ресторан, стоп, спорт, паспорт, транспорт, протест, пресса, спортсмен, Москва, самовар

The next letter is И и which is Roman i. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

три, рим, кино, нина, Онтарио, математика, Америка, импорт, практика, патриот, квартира, вино, мали, климат, литр, лирика, лимон, миллион, минерал, капитал, политика, Литва, диктат, радио, кандидат, директор, диван, Дарвин, лидер, диплом, дипломат, киоск, рис, риск, артист, артистка, Минск, министир, система, интерес, семинар, пианист, виски, лист, лексика, диск, стадион, Владивосток

The next letter is Х х which is Roman kh or ch. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

характер, хамелеон, хаос, Техас, химик, хроника, архитектор, техник, механик

The next letter is У у which is Roman u.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

Урал, луна, туалет, молекула, документ, депутат, кактус, курс, стул, минимум, минута, Украина,Кентукки, литература, инструмент, университет

The next letter is З з which is Roman z.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

зона, ваза, атеизм, зенит, оптимизм, патриотизм, визит, виза, материализм, президент, идеализм, марксизм, пессимизм, Казахстан, муза, коммунизм

The next letter is Г г which is Roman g. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

гамма, грот, грамм, орган, агроном, омега, агент, пентагон, Ван-Гог, гол, генерал, волга, агрессор, конгресс, прогресс, Лас-Вегас, тигр, гитара, грамматика, магнит, гранит, килограмм, кардиолог, антагонист, сигнал, лингвист, аргумент, группа, газета, зоолог, магазин

The next letter is Ь ь which is Roman j pronounced like English y, not as in "many" but as in "canyon". This letter palatalizes the previous consonant and is pronounced with it together.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

мать, конь, ноль, отель, кремль, апрель, модель, медаль, календарь, секретарь, соль

The next letter is Й й which is Roman j pronounced like English y, as a separate letter.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

йота, трамвай, лайнер, йод, перестройка, Толстой, Китай, планетарий, Достоевский, хоккей, мавзолей, музей, йог, герой, Гавайи

The next letter is Ш ш which is Roman š pronounced like English sh. It is the same shape as the Hebrew and Arabic letters.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

каша, штат, марш, атташе, штамп, Шопен, школа, шоколад, машина, Шекспир, Пушкин, шимпанзе, Польша

The next letter is Ж ж which is Roman ž pronounced like English zh.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

жанр, жакет, жена, жест, Лос-Анджелес, инженер, Париж, журнал, журналист, жаргон, шпионаж

The next letter is Я я which is Roman ja pronounced like English ya. It looks like the letter ɑ standing up on legs.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

як, яма, няня, таня, Корея, яков, ваня, ляля, коля, ялта, дядя, ярд, Аляска, армия, Мария, янки, теория, территория, копия, партия, Япония, Италия, линия, Латвия, комедия, академия, миссия, комиссия, Россия, Испания, яхта, ярус, галя, галерея, категория, Германия, Норвегия, Монголия, религия, идеология, макияж, пять, Джорджия, Вирджиния

The next letter is Б б which is Roman b.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

бар, брат, банан, банк, барон, Квебек, бланк, балет, бокс, бас, Бостон, балласт, блин, билет, балерина, Борис, Новосибирск, Бетховен, букет, абсурд, публика, база, кубизм, алгебра, Санкт-Петербург, Альберта, декабрь, автомобиль, Сибирь, бульвар, бойкот, шуба, Азербайджан, боря, баня, батарея, яблоко, лаборатория, Белоруссия

The next letter is Ч ч which is Roman ć, pronounced like English chy like the 't' in 'picture'.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

матч, чек, дача, чемпион, Иванович, сочи, Чехов, Чикаго, ночь, Черчилль, чай, Чайковский

The next letter is Щ щ which is Roman ś, pronounced in English sy-, IPA /ɕ/, like the 's' in 'sure', but more on the tip of the tongue and with less of a 'sh' sound, that is, with the middle of the tongue raised and the tip behind the lower teeth. Try saying 'ny' as in 'canyon' and hold the 'ny' position. Now open the space between the roof of the mouth to allow this 'sy' to escape. It's the same sound as the Chinese 'x', or Korean and Japanese 'shi'.

A lot of old textbooks teach this letter transcribed as the compound "shch", but I'm afraid that this is misleading because the Russian language is in a state of flux. Research was done as far back as the 1960s and found only about 20% of the population still had such a hypercorrect pronunciation and only among the elderly at that. Today it has all but vanished. Today the letter sounds just like the Croatian or Polish ś.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

щека, щенок, щи, площадь, борщ

The next letter is Ё ё which is Roman jo, pronounced like the English yo.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

моё, её, твоё, манёвр, ёлка, мёд, лёд, тётя, счёт

The next letter is Ы ы which is Roman y, pronounced like the English short i farther back in the throat.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

ты, мы, атомы, вы, мыло, плакаты, лампы, планы, кассы, сын, курсы, студенты, туристы, музыка, рыба, блины, сёстры

The next letter is Ц ц which is Roman c, pronounced like the English ts.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

цент, цемент, акцент, центр, концерт, процесс, цитата, цирк, цинк, пицца, принцип, цикл, инцидент, медицина, цилиндр, специалист, дисциплина, социализм, цензура, царь, японец, операция, коллекция, полиция, инстанция, конституция, конструкция, позиция

The next letter is Ю ю which is Roman ju, pronounced like the English yu.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

каюта, юмор, Юкон, меню, пюре, дюна, костюм, нюанс, люкс, ювелир, юрист, рюкзак, союз, юг, юрий, Нью-Йорк, бюджет, бюро, бюрократ, бюст, юбилей, юстиция

The next letter is Э э which is Roman è, pronounced like the English short e.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

эра, поэт, экватор, электрон, экспорт, экспресс, эскалатор, этика, элита, электрик, экономист, эксперимент, Сиэтл, Эдисон, эхо, экзамен, энтузиазм, эгоист, Эйнштейн, Эстония, экскурсия, экспедиция

The next letter is Ф ф which is Roman f. It originally comes from Greek.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

фото, факт, форма, фонтан, фронт, кофе, кафе, ферма, фен, феномен, телефон, фонд, фосфор, профессор, Африка, фирма, микрофон, финал, Флорида, футурист, фраза, физика, флаг, фигура, портфель, фильм, шарф, шеф, шрифт, финиш, жираф, Калифорния, Финляндия, профессия, буфет, футбол, Франция, шофёр, финансы, фрукты, Сан-Франциско, аэрофлот

The next letter is the hard sign Ъ ъ which is Roman '. This has the opposite effect of ь. Since any vowel starting with j will palatalize the previous consonant, this hard sign prevents the palatalization from happening and keeps that consonant "hard". If you don't understand it yet, we'll discuss it more in the palatalization section later.

Match the words on the left with the romanization on the right:

Now read the following words:

подъезд, въезд, съезд, объект, субъект, объезд, подъём, объём

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