Russian Language Alphabet - listen online and practice pronunciation

Listen to the pronunciation of Russian Letters. Learn how to pronounce the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet with audio recordings.

Cyrillic alphabet looks different from the Roman one. Each letter has a name and a corresponding sound.

Printed Letter	Name in the Alphabet	Transliteration of the Sound	Similar English Sound
A а	а	[a]	like a in father
Б б	бэ	[b]	like b in book
В в	вэ	[v]	like v in vet
Г г	гэ	[g]	like g in goose
Д д	дэ	[d]	like d in drama
Е е	е	[ye]	like ye in yet
Ё ё	ё	[yo]	like yo in yoga
Ж ж	жэ	[Ʒ]	like s in treasure
З з	зэ	[z]	like z in zebra
И и	и	[ee]	like ee in week
Й й	ий	[y]	like y in boy
К к	ка	[k]	like k in kitten
Л л	эль	[l]	like l in lamp
М м	эм	[m]	like m in man
Н н	эн	[n]	like n in note
О о	о	[о]	like o in sort
П п	пэ		like p in pet
Р р	эр	[r]	like r in red
С с	эс	[s]	like s in school
Т т	тэ	[t]	like t in toy
У у	у	[u]	like oo in mood
Ф ф	эф	[f]	like f in fly
Х х	ха	[h]	like h in hat
Ц ц	цэ	[ts]	like ts in boots
Ч ч	чэ	[ch]	like ch in chair
Ш ш	ша	[sh]	like sh in shawl
Щ щ	ща	[shsh]	like shsh in English sheet
ъ	твёрдый знак	–	*
ы	ы	[i]	like i in live
ь	мягкий знак	–	**
Э э	э	[e]	like e in set
Ю ю	ю	[yu]	like you in youth
Я я	я	[ya]	like ya in yahoo

There are 33 letters in the Russian alphabet: 11 vowels, 20 consonants, and 2 letters, which do not make any sounds by themselves. They are called hard sign and soft sign.

*Ъ— твёрдый знак = hard sign – is a separation sign, which keeps the previous consonant hard;

**Ь – мягкий знак = soft sign – is a separation sign, which keeps the previous consonant soft.

Russian Alphabet