The Russian Alphabet

The Russian alphabet has 33 letters. Ъ (hard sign) and Ь (soft sign) have no sound of their own; they change how the letter before them is said. Tap any letter to hear its name.

Learn Russian in the app

Pictures, native audio, and each word comes back right before you’d forget it. Free on iPhone & Android.

Get it free

Scan with your phone camera

Printable chart (PDF) 193 KB · 1 page

All 33 letters

Tap any letter to hear its name.

а a a as in “father”
бэ be say “beh” b as in “bed”
вэ ve say “veh” v as in “van”
гэ ge say “geh” g as in “go”
дэ de say “deh” d as in “dog”
е ye say “yeh” ye as in “yes”; after a consonant, an e that makes it soft
ё yo yo as in “yonder”; always stressed
жэ zhe say “zheh” s as in “pleasure”, but harder
зэ ze say “zeh” z as in “zoo”
и i say “ee” ee as in “see”; makes the consonant before it soft
и краткое i kratkoye say “ee KRAT-ka-ye” y as in “boy”: a short glide, mostly after vowels
ка ka k as in “skip” (no puff of air)
эль el l, usually dark, as in “full”
эм em m as in “man”
эн en n as in “no”
о o o when stressed; without stress it sounds like a
пэ pe say “peh” p as in “spin” (no puff of air)
эр er rolled r, as in Spanish “perro”
эс es s as in “sun”
тэ te say “teh” t as in “stop” (no puff of air)
у u say “oo” oo as in “food”
эф ef f as in “fun”
ха kha ch as in Scottish “loch”
цэ tse say “tseh” ts as in “cats”
че che say “cheh” ch as in “cheese”, said softly
ша sha sh as in “shop”, but harder (tongue pulled back)
ща shcha a long, soft sh, like “fresh sheet” run together
твёрдый знак tvyordy znak (hard sign) say “TVYOR-dy znak” no sound: it keeps the consonant hard and adds a tiny break before the next vowel
ы y a deep i, with the tongue pulled back (no English equivalent)
мягкий знак myagkiy znak (soft sign) say “MYAKH-kee znak” no sound: it makes the consonant before it soft (a light y-glide)
э e say “eh” e as in “bed”
ю yu say “yoo” yu as in “you”
я ya ya as in “yard”

7 letters that fool English readers

Looks like B, sounds v
Looks like H, is an n
Looks like P, is a rolled r
Looks like C, is always an s
Looks like y, sounds “oo”
Looks like X, sounds like ch in “loch”
Looks like E, sounds “ye” at the start of a word

Soft sign, hard sign, ё and щ

Letters	Examples	Rule
Ь		Only the ь differs: the т at the end turns soft.
Ъ · Ь		Before я, е, ё, ю both signs add a “y”: ob-yav…, sem-ya. ъ keeps the consonant hard, ь makes it soft.
Ё · Е		ё is always stressed and sounds “yo” (лёд = lyot). In everyday print the dots are often left out, so ё looks like е.
Ш · Щ		ш is a hard, deep sh (шкаф = shkaf); щ is a long, soft sh, as in площадь.

A word for every letter

Each letter below has its name and a real word from the Flashcardly course (starting with the letter where one exists), with a picture and native audio.