Cyrillic Alphabet with Pronunciation
Cyrillic is used by around 250 million people, in Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, Bulgarian and more. Here are the 33 letters of the Russian alphabet, the most widely used version. Tap any letter to hear a native speaker, then see which letters fool English readers and what the other alphabets add.
- 33 lettersin the Russian alphabet
- 10 vowelsА Е Ё И О У Ы Э Ю Я
- 2 silent signsЪ Ь
- 50+ languageswrite in Cyrillic
The 33 letters of the Russian alphabetCyrillic alphabet (Russian)
Capital and small letter side by side. Vowels are green. Tap a letter to listen; Ъ and Ь have no sound of their own.
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Letters that fool English readers
Half of Cyrillic looks familiar, and that's the trap. These letters look like Latin ones but read differently:
В
looks like «B», reads
v
Н
looks like «H», reads
n
Р
looks like «P», reads
r
С
looks like «C», reads
s
У
looks like «y», reads
u
Х
looks like «X», reads
kh
Е
looks like «E», reads
ye
И
looks like «backwards N», reads
i
Easy to mix up with each other
- Шsh≠Щshch
- Иi≠Йy
- Еye≠Эe
- Ьsoft≠Ъhard
Sounds and rules worth knowing
Most Cyrillic letters stand for one sound, so once you know them you can read aloud. A few rules make the difference between reading and sounding right.
Five vowels come in pairs
Each hard vowel has a soft twin that adds a y in front: А a and Я ya, У u and Ю yu. The soft one also makes the consonant before it softer. Learn one column and you know the other.
- А Яa · ya
- Э Еe · ye
- О Ёo · yo
- У Юu · yu
- Ы Иy · i
Ы: the sound English doesn't have
Say ee as in see, then pull your tongue back and relax it. It's close to the i in will, a bit deeper. Listen to Ы and then И: the difference is the whole point. Russian words never start with Ы.
Ь softens the consonant
The soft sign has no sound, but it changes the consonant before it. мат (mat) is foul language, мать (mat') is mother. The tongue touches the roof of the mouth, as in the n of canyon.
Ъ keeps sounds apart
The hard sign is rare and silent. It separates a prefix from the root so the next vowel keeps its y: сесть (sest', to sit down) and съесть (s'yest', to eat up).
Р is rolled
Р is a trilled r, made with the tip of the tongue, like rr in Spanish perro. You hear it in рубль, the ruble.
Ш and Щ
Ш is a firm sh. Щ is longer and softer, as if you said fresh sheets quickly. Listen to both one after the other.
Read differently than written
Unstressed О sounds like a, and Ч can sound like sh: что (what) is said shto, and конечно (of course) is kanyeshna.
Ukrainian and Belarusian letters
Ukrainian adds Є, І, Ї and Ґ and reads Г as a breathy h. Belarusian uses І too, and Ў for a short u like the w in now.
- Гh (Ukrainian)
- Ї їyi
- Є єye
- І іi
- Ў ўw
Serbian and Macedonian letters
Serbian Cyrillic writes every soft sound with its own letter instead of a soft sign: Љ is ly, Њ is ny. It uses Ј for y. Macedonian adds Ѓ and Ќ, softer g and k.
- Љ љly
- Њ њny
- Ђ ђdj
- Џ џdzh
- Ѓ ѓgy
- Ќ ќky
- Ћ ћch (soft)
- Ј јy
- Ѕ ѕdz
- С́ с́soft sh
Trainer: do you know this letter?
We show a random letter and you pick how it reads. A wrong answer is fine: we show the right one straight away, and you can listen to it.
Try reading these
Short Russian words, letter by letter. Read them yourself first, then check and listen to a native speaker.
брат
мать
семья
люблю
уют
мята
мука
рубль
ёж
йога
что
конечно
Remember, don't cram
In the Alfabird app every letter comes with a picture that makes it stick. Here are the first three from lesson 1:
Я
ya
This is Я, read as [ya] like in “yard”. It looks like a pointer sign: the circle is the sign itself, the two lines below are its legs.
Й
y
This is Й, a short [y] like in “yoga”. Imagine the letter is someone sitting in a yoga pose.
И
i
And this is И, read as [i]. It looks like a backwards N. Take the word “Nimbus” and swap the i: “Nиmbus”. The backwards N sits right next to the N.
Pictures for every letter, audio, quizzes and flashcards are in the app. The first lessons are free.
Questions
How many letters are in the Cyrillic alphabet?
It depends on the language. Russian has 33 letters, Ukrainian 33, Belarusian 32, Serbian 30 and Bulgarian 30. Around 29 letters are shared by almost all of them; the rest are additions like Ukrainian Ї or Serbian Љ.
Is the Russian alphabet the same as Cyrillic?
The Russian alphabet is one version of Cyrillic, and the most widely used. If you can read Russian letters, you can already read most of Ukrainian, Belarusian, Bulgarian and Serbian text and only need to learn a handful of extra letters.
Why do some Cyrillic letters look like English ones?
Both scripts come from Greek. Some letters kept the same sound (А, К, М, О, Т), others look the same but read differently: В is v, Н is n, Р is r, С is s, У is u, Х is kh. Those are the ones to practice first.
What do Ь and Ъ do?
Neither has a sound. The soft sign Ь softens the consonant before it (мать, mother). The hard sign Ъ separates a prefix from the root so the vowel after it is read with a y (съесть, to eat up). Ъ is rare; Ь is everywhere.
Which Russian sounds are the hardest?
Ы, which English doesn't have; the rolled Р; Щ, a long soft sh; and soft consonants before Ь, Я, Е, Ё, Ю and И. Unstressed О that sounds like a also takes getting used to.
How long does it take to learn Cyrillic?
In Alfabird the Cyrillic course has 7 short lessons with tests: 29 common letters first, then letters of specific languages. At 10 to 15 minutes a day, most people read Cyrillic within a week.
Your first letter
takes a minute.
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