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The Russian Alphabet

The first step to learning written Russian is learning its alphabet.  Much of the alphabet is borrowed from Greek and Roman letters, so some letters will look familiar to you.  Some of the letters, however, will look the same as in English, but they are used for a different sound in Russian, which can be confusing.

Practice writing and pronouncing these letters for awhile and you'll get the hang of them eventually.  Making flashcards and quizzing yourself is a good way to remember them.


Below are the letters as they are on computers and in print.  Study the PDF reference material for the pronunciation of each letter with a comparison to English pronunciation, and a larger version of each letter.

А а – ah
Б б – beh
В в – veh
Г г  – geh
Д д – deh
Е е – yeh
Ё ё – yo
Ж ж – zheh
З з  – zeh
И и – ee
Й й – "y" sound – "ee kratkoyeh" (short ee)
К к – kah 
Л л – ehl
М м – ehm
Н н – ehn
О о – oh
П п – peh
Р р – ehr
С с – ehs
Т т – teh
У у – oo
Ф ф – ehf
Х х – khah
Ц ц – tseh 
Ч ч – cheh
Ш ш – shah
Щ щ – shyah
Ъ ъ – silent – "tvyordiy znakh" hard sign
Ы ы – euyh/i 
Ь ь  – silent – "myakhiy znakh" soft sign
Э э – eh
Ю ю – yoo
Я я – ya

This is a view of the print letters next to their handwritten equivalents:

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