The Russian alphabet consists of 33 letters. Some of them are similar to Roman (English) letters and have a similar pronunciation (к,м,о) while some of them only look similar (с,в). The most common letter in Russian is о, whilst in the English language it is e.

The Russian alphabet has two non-vocalised letters: soft sign Ь and hard sign Ъ. As you might guess, the soft one indicates that the preceding consonant is soft. The hard sign means the opposite. The last letter of the Russian alphabet, Я, is also a pronoun which means I or me in Russian.

The Russian alphabet is derived from the Cyrillic script which was developed on the basis of the Greek alphabet.





Russian alphabet chart with English examples and sounds

Russian Alphabet to English

А - A

Б - B

В - V

Г - G

Д - D

Е - YE

Ё - YO

Ж - ZH

З - Z

И - I

Й - J

К - K

Л - L

М - M

Н - N

О - O

П - P

Р - R

С - S

Т - T

У - U

Ф - F

Х - H

Ц - TS

Ч - CH

Ш - SH

Щ - SHCH

Ъ - '

Ы - Y

Ь - '

Э - YE

Ю - YU

Я - YA