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Many of our readers asked for a lesson about the alphabet (алфави́т). And today we are pleased to publish it.
The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters: 10 vowels, 21 consonants and 2 letters which do not have a sound (instead they make the word harder or softer). Also hand written Russian looks different to printed Russian.
More free Russian lessons for beginners you can find on learnrussianstepbystep.com.
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* pron. – approximate pronunciation. Listen to the audio to hear the real sound of each letter.
| letter | pron.* | letter | pron.* | letter | pron.* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а | [a] | К к | [k] | Х х | [h] |
| Б б | [b] | Л л | [l] | Ц ц | [ts] |
| В в | [v] | М м | [m] | Ч ч | [ch] |
| Г г | [g] | Н н | [n] | Ш ш | [sh] |
| Д д | [d] | О о | [o] | Щ щ | [sch] |
| Е е | [ye] | П п | [p] | ъ | the hard sign |
| Ё ё | [yo] | Р р | [r] | ы | ~ [i] |
| Ж ж | [zh] | С с | [s] | ь | the soft sign |
| З з | [z] | Т т | [t] | Э э | [e] |
| И и | [ee] | У у | [u] | Ю ю | [yu] |
| Й й | [y] | Ф ф | [ph] | Я я | [ya] |
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А а | ![]() |
Б б | ![]() |
В в |
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Г г | ![]() |
Д д | ![]() |
Е е |
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Ё ё | ![]() |
Ж ж | ![]() |
З з |
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И и | ![]() |
Й й | ![]() |
К к |
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Л л | ![]() |
М м | ![]() |
Н н |
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О о | ![]() |
П п | ![]() |
Р р |
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С с | ![]() |
Т т | ![]() |
У у |
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Ф ф | ![]() |
Х х | ![]() |
Ц ц |
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Ч ч | ![]() |
Ш ш | ![]() |
Щ щ |
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ъ | ![]() |
ы | ![]() |
ь |
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Э э | ![]() |
Ю ю | ![]() |
Я я |
Pronunciation rules: vowels
Правила произношения: гласные
- In unstressed positions, Russian letter O is pronounced like unstressed Russian A. But when stressed, it sounds like О in more.
- In unstressed positions, Russian letters Я, Е, Э are pronounced like an abbreviated Russian И.
- The letter Ё is always stressed in Russian words.
| vowel | stressed | unstressed |
|---|---|---|
| а | ма́ма (mother) | каранда́ш (pencil) |
| o | по́мощь (help) | молоко́ (milk) |
| у | ру́ки (hands) | уро́к (lesson) |
| э | э́хо (echo) | эта́ж (floor) |
| ы | ры́ба (fish) | краси́вый (beautiful) |
| и | кри́к (scream) | игра́ (game) |
| е | ме́бель (furniture) | семья́ (family) |
| ё | зелёный (green), жёлтый (yellow) | — |
| ю | ю́бка (skirt) | любо́вь (love) |
| я | я́щик (box) | тяжёлый (heavy) |
Pronunciation rules: consonants
Правила произношения: согласные
Des paires de consonnes. Пары согласных.
| voiced | voiceless |
|---|---|
| б | п |
| в | ф |
| г | к / х |
| д | т |
| ж | ш |
| з | с |
- Russian voiced consonants are pronounced as their voiceless counterparts when they appear in the the very end of the word.
Example: обе́д – (dinner) – [abе́t]
- Voiced consonants become voiceless when they are followed by other voiceless consonants.
Example: ю́бка – (skirt) – [yúpka]
- Voiceless consonants sound voiced when they are followed by voiced consonants.
Example: футбо́лка – (t-shirt) – [fudbólka]
The lesson is developed on the materials of masterrussian.com










































