Learn the Russian alphabet easy.

1. Russian Alphabet
Learning Russian Characters

2. А К Х
Б Л Ц
В М Ч
Г Н Ш
Д О Щ
Е П Ъ
Ё Р Ы
Ж С Ь
З Т Э
И У Ю
Й Ф Я
Russian Characters look weird

3. But not all Russian characters are unfamiliar to you!
The Russian alphabet has a whole six letters which are the
same in the English alphabet.
A E K
M O T

4. A looks and sounds like A in English
A is like a in father
Анастасия, великая
княжна (Anastasia, Grand
Duchess) – the youngest
daughter of Tsar Nicholas
II of Russia. A protagonist
of animated musical film
Anastasia

5. E looks and sounds like E in English
E is like ye in yet or let
Ельцин, Борис
(Yeltsin, Boris) – the
first President of the
Russian Federation,
serving from 1991 to
1999.
(source: www.kremlin.ru)

6. K looks and sounds like K in English
К is like k in kitten
Киев (Kiev) — the
capital and the largest
city of Ukraine
(photo by Elke Wetzig)

7. M looks and sounds like M in English
M is like m in mom
Москва (Moscow) is
the capital and the
most populous city of
Russia.
Photo by villamon
http://www.flickr.com/phot
os/villamon/

8. O looks and sounds like O in English
O is like o in holly
Ольга (Saint Olga)
was a ruler of Kievan
Rus as a regent (945-c.
963) for her son,
Svyatoslav.

9. T looks and sounds like T in English
T is like t in top
Толсто́й, Лeв
Никола́евич (Tolstoy,
Leo) — a Russian
writer

10. Same sound — different character
Some characters look funny, but you already
know sounds that they represent!

11. Б is like B
Б is like b in boy
Блины (Bliny) —
pancakes. Blini are
thicker pancakes made
from wheat flour,
butter, eggs, milk, and
yeast added to the
batter.
Photo by Andrei Zmievski,
http://www.flickr.com/people/
andreiz/

12. Г is like G
Г is like G like Google
Горбачёв, Михаил
Сергеевич (Gorbachev,
Mikhail Sergeyevich)
— the last head of
state of the USSR,
serving from 1988 until
its collapse in 1991
Photo by Вени Марковски

13. З is like Z
З is like z in zoo
Зебра (Zebra) —
Zebras are African
equids best known for
their distinctive black
and white stripes.
Photo by Crazy Souza,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/
caochopp/

14. И is like I (ee)
И is like i in little or ee in
feel
Индия (India) — a
country in South Asia
that shares an extensive
economic, defence and
technological
relationship with Russia
Photo by Dave dwrawlinson
http://www.flickr.com/peopl
e/dave_raw_lin_son/

15. Й is like y
Й is like y in yes
Йод (Iodine) — a
chemical element
widely used in Russia
in first aid kit as a
disinfectant

16. Л is like L
Л is like l in lamp
Ленин, Владимир
(Lenin, Vladimir) — a
Russian Marxist
revolutionary and
communist politician
who led the October
Revolution of 1917.

17. П is like P
П is like p in pizza
Пирожки (Pirozhki)
— generic word for
individual-sized baked
or fried buns stuffed
with a variety of
fillings.

18. Ф is like F
Ф is like f in finish
Фаберже, Карл
(Fabergé, Peter Carl)
— a Russian jeweller,
best known for the
famous Fabergé eggs.
Photo by José Antonio
Alonso
http://www.flickr.com/people
/fotoblasete/

19. Same character — different sound
Some characters look familiar, but have
different sounds.
They may be confusing!

20. В is like V
В is like v in victory
Водка (Vodka) — a
distilled beverage and
one of the world's
most popular liquors.
Photo by maksskam
http://www.flickr.com/people
/maksskam/

21. Д is like D
Д is like d in daughter
Достоевский
(Dostoyevsky) — a
famous Russian
novelist
Portrait of Dostoyevsky by
Vassily Perov

22. С is like S
С is like S in Sun
Спутник (Sputnik) —
the first Earth-orbiting
artificial satellite.

23. H is like N
● H is like n in now
Николай II (Nicholas
II) — the last Emperor
of Russia

24. Р is like R
Р is like r in red
Россия (Russia) —
the largest country in
the world, covering
more than a ninth of
the Earth's land area.

25. У is like U (OO)
У is like u is super or
oo in look
Уланова, Галина
(Ulánova, Galina) —
frequently cited as
being one of the
greatest 20th Century
ballerinas.

26. Х is like Kh
Х is like ch in Bach
(German)
Хачатурян, Арам
(Khachaturian, Aram)
— a Soviet-Armenian
composer, his most
famous composition is
the "Sabre Dance"
Photo by Rita Willaert

27. Unique Russian Characters
The rest are specific Russian characters for
unique Russian sounds

28. Ё is like Yo
Ё is like yo in York
Ёжик в тумане (Yozhik v
tumane, Hedgehog in the
Fog) — a 1975
Soviet/Russian animated
film directed by Yuriy
Norshteyn, one of the
most popular animations
in Russia.

29. Ж is like Zh
Ж is like -sure in
pleasure
Живаго (Zhivago) —
Doctor Zhivago is a
20th century novel by
Boris Pasternak.

30. Ц is like Ts
Ц is like ts in cats
Царь (Tsar) — a title
used in Russia to
designate monarchs.

31. Ч is like Ch
Ч is like ch in child
Чехов, Антон
(Chekhov, Anton) — a
Russian short-story
writer, playwright and
physician, considered
to be one of the
greatest short-story
writers in the history
of world literature.

32. Ш is like Sh
Ш is like sh in shut
Шаляпин, Фёдор
(Shalyapin, Fyodor)
— opera singer known
for his full-bodied,
resonant bass, and
expressive vocal
ability.

33. Щ is like Shch
Щ is like shch in fresh
cheese
Щи (Shchi) — a
Russian soup with
cabbage as the main
ingredient.

34. Ы is like...
There's no equivalent
for Ы in English. Even
if you try to extensively
intonate an "i" sound, it
might end up sounding
like something / like
some mutation close to
"Ы." There are no
words that begin with
"Ы" in Russian.

35. Э is like E
Э is like e in pet
Эрмитаж (Hermitage)
— a museum of art and
culture in Saint
Petersburg, Russia. One
of the largest and oldest
museums of the world
photo by pierlux.com
http://www.flickr.com/peopl
e/pierlux/

36. Ю is like Yu
Ю is like u in unit
Юрий (Yuri) — a
common name given
to men, equivalent to
"George". Famous
people: Yuri Gagarin,
the first human being
in space
source: http://www.rirt.ru

37. Я is like Ya
Я is like ya in yacht
Ялта (Yalta) — a city
in Crimea, southern
Ukraine, where a
wartime meeting
between the heads of
state from the US, UK,
and USSR took place
in 1945

38. Ъ and Ь are mute
The last two characters
are silent.
● Ъ is a hard sign
● Ь is a soft sign
They indicate whether
a preceding consonant
is hard or soft.

39. Russian Alphabet
А а [ah] К к [k] Х х [kh]
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 [chsh]
Е е [e] П п [p] ъ [-]
Ё ё [yo] Р р [r] ы [yi]
Ж ж [zh] С с [s] ь [-]
З з [z] Т т [t] Э э [eh]
И и [i:] У у [u:] Ю ю [yu]
Й й [y] Ф ф [f] Я я [ya]