Russian Alphabet

ah

like father if stressed; if not, pronounced like 'u' as in hut

[sound:Аа.mp3]

b

like boy

[sound:Бб.mp3]

v

like very

[sound:Вв.mp3]

g

like go; in genitive (possessive) endings ого/его like avoid, e.g., "Dostoevsky's" = Достоевского (duh-stah-YEHV-skuh-vuh)

[sound:Гг.mp3]

d

like do

[sound:Дд.mp3]

yeh

like yesterday if stressed, before a stressed syllable pronounced as "ee" as in eel, or if after a stressed syllable and in only one syllable, pronounced like "eh" as in "tell"

[sound:Ее.mp3]

yoh

like yore; always stressed; pronounced "o" only after ч, ш, щ and ж.
[sound:Ёё.mp3]

zh

like measure; always hard

[sound:Жж.mp3]

z

like zoo

[sound:Зз.mp3]

ee

like seen or the i in Machine

[sound:Ии.mp3]

y

like boy

[sound:Йй.mp3]

k

like keep

[sound:Кк.mp3]

l

like leak or look

[sound:Лл.mp3]

m

like seem

[sound:Мм.mp3]

n

like noodle; pronounced ny (palatalized, like a Spanish ñ) before ь, и, e, я, and ю.

[sound:Нн.mp3]

oh

like score when stressed; when unstressed, it is a hard a in Hakeem (syllable before stress) or the o in Gibson (elsewhere).

[sound:Оо.mp3]

p

like spigot

[sound:Пп.mp3]

r

heavily rolled as in Spanish rr in perro

[sound:Рр.mp3]

s

like seem

[sound:Сс.mp3]

t

like tattoo

[sound:Тт.mp3]

oo

like cartoon, lips rounded as with French ou

[sound:Уу.mp3]

f

like French

[sound:Фф.mp3]

kh

voiceless velar fricative as in the Scottish loch or German Bach

[sound:Хх.mp3]

ts

like boots; always hard

[sound:Цц.mp3]

ch

like cheap; always soft

[sound:Чч.mp3]

sh

like shot; always hard (pronounced with the tip of the tongue further back in the mouth, almost a retroflex

[sound:Шш.mp3]

sh

similar to sheet; always soft: unlike ш, щ is palatalized, meaning that the tip of the tongue rests on the back of the lower teeth, and the sh sound is pronounced with the middle of the tongue. Don't worry about this too much, as you'll be understood in context. (Note that though щ is often transliterated as shch, it is not pronounced similar to "harsh choice"—there is no ch sound in this Russian consonant

[sound:Щщ.mp3]

the hard sign (very rarely used since 1918) - used to indicate that the preceding consonant is not palatalized (in a position where it otherwise would). Mostly used after prefixes v- ("in") and s- ("out").
съёмка (s-yawm-kah) - making a film

Сёмка (syawm-kah) - familiar form for Simon

въезд (v-yezd) - vehicular entrance (not vyezd).

[sound:Ъ.mp3]

yh

like sit, hit, but pronounced far further down the throat, as if being punched in the stomach

[sound:Ы.mp3]

the soft sign - used to indicate that the preceding consonant is palatalized (in a position where it otherwise would not)

полька (PAUL-kah) - a female Polish person (also, the name of dance)

полка (POW-kah) - a shelf

уголь (OO-gol') - coal

угол (OO-gol, OO-gow) - corner

каньон (kan'-YAWN) - canyon

канон (ka-NAWN) - canon

[sound:Ь.mp3]

eh

like end (also pronounced further down the throat, as if being punched in the stomach)

[sound:Ээ.mp3]

yoo

like you or Yugoslavia if stressed; if not, pronounced "oo" like cartoon

[sound:Юю.mp3]

yah

like Yacht when stressed; before a stressed syllable pronounced as "ee" as in eel, or if after a stressed syllable and in only one syllable, pronounced like "eh" as in "tell"

[sound:Яя.mp3]