Russian Alphabet and Pronunciation

As you may know, Russian alphabet (Cyrillic alphabet) is not the same as the English one (Roman alphabet). That is why if you can’t read it, it may be challenging for you in the beginning. I will explain each letter in alphabetic order.

I have highlighted in green letters that are similar or almost the same as English ones, in orange those which sound (almost) like English ones but look differently, in red those which look like English letters but sound differently and in blue those which don’t exist in English.

Letter	Comment	Example
А а	Sounds like ar in star	Ангел (Angel)
Б б	Sounds like b is balloon	Бабочка (Butterfly)
В в	Sounds like v in veil	Время (Time)
Г г	Sounds like g in game	Гвоздь (Nail)
Д д	Sounds like d in dark	Дом (House)
Е е	Sounds like ye in yet	Европа (Europe)
Ё ё	Sounds like ya in yacht or like yo in yogurt This letter is rarely used nowadays, and is almost always replaced by “е” without dots, even though is still pronounced as “ё” Note that ё is always stressed	Ёлка (Conifer tree)
Ж ж	Sounds like s in measure	Жук (Beetle)
З з	Sounds like z in zoo	Зонтик (Umbrella)
И и	Sounds like ea in meat, or like i in still	Искра (Spark)
Й й	Sounds like y in yoga or in oyster; it is used to form diphtongs with vowels	Йод (Iodine)
К к	Sounds like k in key	Клей (Glue)
Л л	Sounds like l in love	Лимон (Lemon)
М м	Sounds like m in man	Мука (Flour)
Н н	Sounds like n in night	Ночь (Night)
О о	Sounds like o in oil when stressed When this letter is not stressed, it sounds like a	Молоко (Milk)
П п	Sounds like p in pay	Понедельник (Monday)
Р р	Sounds like r in rock, but Russian р is rolled	Роль (Role)
С с	Sounds like s in sister	Сестра (Sister)
Т т	Sounds like t in time	Тарелка (Plate)
У у	Sounds like oo in moon, or u in full	Улица (Street)
Ф ф	Sounds like f in frame	Фасоль (Bean)
Х х	Sounds like h in hate	Храм (Temple)
Ц ц	Sounds like ts in its	Царь (Tsar)
Ч ч	Sounds like ch in cheese	Чай (Tea)
Ш ш	Sounds like sh in shoes	Шрам (Scar)
Щ щ	Sounds similar to sh but palatalized one, it means you shoud put your tongue on the roof of your mouth (“soft” ш)	Щетка (Brush)
Ъ ъ	This letter is called the Hard Sign and it has not a proper sound. It is rarely used and serves to separate the prefix and the rest of the word Never is used as the first letter in a word!	Въезд (Entrance for vehicles)
Ы ы	Sounds like i in ill; It is similar to Russian и but with your tongue put slightly back in your mouth Never is used as the first letter in a word!	Мышь (Mouse)
Ь ь	This is the Soft Sign. It is called like this because it makes the previous sound ‘softer’. Compare: т — without the Soft Sign ть – with the Soft Sign Never is used as the first letter in a word!	Скамья (Bench) Basically, when you see the Soft Sign, you should pronounce it as if there was a slight sound [i] instead of it
Э э	Sounds like a in day	Этаж (Floor)
Ю ю	Sounds like the word you	Юбка (Skirt)
Я я	Sounds like ya in yard	Яма (Hole)

Stress and vowel reduction. Stress in Russian words is not fixed even within the same word – it may depend on the form of the word. It is important to know which syllable is stressed because words may be understood completely differently depending on how we stress them. For example:

Мукá – flour

Мýка – agony

Vowel reduction. Stress affects the way we pronounce vowels. In Russian stressed position of vowels is called a strong position. Vowels in strong position are pronounced as they are given in the alphabet. Vowels in weak position are shorter and slightly change their sound. For example, letters я and e sound like a short и when unstressed, and the letter о is pronounced like а when unstressed. Quite a brain-teaser, right?
Stress in Russian is not marked, that’s why it is important to remember which syllable is stressed in a certain word. Don’t be afraid, it will come to you with practice, and soon you will stress syllables naturally even in a new word.

Some examples of о reduction:

Корóва – Cow

Моркóвь – Carrot

Дорóга – Road

As you could see from those examples, the first о which is unstressed sounds like а. Before listening to the next example, try to pronounce it yourself first and then see if you did right:

Мáсло – Butter

Some examples of я and е reduction:

Яма – Hole

Яйцо – Egg

Мелочь – Pocket money
Consonant Assimilation. Maybe you have noticed that Ж letter in the word ЭТАЖ didn’t sound as it was presented in the alphabet. It happens because some Russian consonants change their sound depending on where they are placed in the word. For example, voiced consonants (Г, Б, В, Д, Ж and З) at the end of the word change its sound and become voiceless consonants. For example, the letter Б (voiced consonant) in front of р is not devoiced:

Брат — Brother

But it is devoiced at the end of the word and sounds like its voiceless pair (П):

Гриб — Mushroom

It was just a general explanation of pronounciation. Check a separate grammar course for more details.

At this stage the most important thing is to practice reading by copying Russian speech. Just let your ears, brain and speech apparatus get used to the Russian sounds and to the way Russians pronounce words.