Learn to Read Russian!

The Russian Alphabet

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet. Some letters look like, and sound similar to English letters. Some look like English letters but represent different sounds, and some do not look like English letters.

Click on each letter to hear its Russian name. Click on a Russian word to hear it pronounced. The red letter in a word indicates the position of the stress, or accent.


LETTER PRONUNCIATION
Ì, ì Like English [m] in mother
À, à Like the [a] in father when stressed; otherwise like [uh] in about
ÌÀÌÀ
Ò, ò Like English [t] in stop, but with the tongue touching the back of the teeth.
ÒÀÌ, ÌÀÒ
Î, î Like [o] when stressed; otherwise [uh] or [ah]
ÒÎÌ, ÒÎÒ
Ð, ð Flap r, similar to Spanish trilled r
ÌÎÒÎÐ, ÐÎÒÎÐ

Ê, ê Like English [k] in skin
ÒÐÀÊÒÎÐ
Å, å Pronounced [yeh] asin yet when stressed; otherwise as [ee] when not stressed
ÊÀÌÅÐÀ, ÒÅÌÀ, ÐÅÊÀ,
È, è Like English [ee] as in beet
ÀÌÅÐÈÊÀ, ÌÀÒÅÌÀÒÈÊÀ