The Russian Alphabet

Russian CharacterEnglish EquivalentSoundLetter Name in Russian

Like "a" in car"ah"

B bLike "b" in bat"beh"

V vLike "v" in van"veh"

G gLike "g" in go"geh"

D dLike "d" in dog"deh"

YE yeLike "ye" in yet"yeh"

YO yoLike "yo" in yonder"yo"

Zh zhLike "s" in measure or pleasure or like "g" in beige (the colour)"zheh"

Z zLike "z" in zoo"zeh"

EE eeLike "ee" in see"ee"

I i or Y ylike "y" in boy or toy"ee kratkoyeh"

K kLike "k" in kitten, "c" in cat."kah"

L lLike "l" in light"ehl"

M mLike "m" in mat"ehm"

N nLike "n" in no"ehn"

Stressed: O o Unstressed: A aLike "o" in boreLike "a" in car"oh"

P pLike "p" in pot"peh"

R rLike "r" in run (rolled)"ehr"

S sLike "s" in sam"ehs"

T tLike "t" in tap"teh"

U uLike "oo" in boot"oo"

F fLike "f" in fat"ehf"

H h, KH khLike "h" in hello or like the "ch" in Scottish 'loch' or German 'Bach'"khah"

TS tsLike "ts" in bits"tseh"

CH chLike "ch" in chip"cheh"

SH sh (hard)Like "sh" in shut"shah"

SH sh (soft)Like "sh" in sheep"schyah"

Hard SignLetter before is hard"tvyordiy znahk"

I iLike "i" in ill"i"

Soft SignLetter before is soft"myagkeey znahk"

E eLike "e" in pet"eh"

YU yuLike "u" in use or university"yoo"

YA yaLike "ya" in yard."yah"

The table below gives you the normal printed version of the russian characters, and the cursive (italic) version of the character. The letters which are significantly different are noted in red. It is worth learning these. The cursive characters are often used in signs and they also are similar to the hand-written form of Russian.