Thank you, Russianlessons.net for such wonderful explanation of letters of the Russian alphabet and other lessons.
The alphabet may seem different and difficult but it really is not that difficult once you understand the system.
In the table below is the full Russian alphabet in presented in dictionary order. It would also be useful to learn how to say the Russian letters.
The Russian Alphabet
Russian
Character English Equivalent Sound Letter Name in Russian
А а А а Like “a” in car “ah”
Б б B b Like “b” in bat “beh”
В в V v Like “v” in van “veh”
Г г G g Like “g” in go “geh”
Д д D d Like “d” in dog “deh”
Е е YE ye Like “ye” in yet “yeh”
Ё ё YO yo Like “yo” in yonder “yo”
Ж ж Zh zh Like “s” in measure or pleasure or like “g” in beige (the colour) “zheh”
З з Z z Like “z” in zoo “zeh”
И и EE ee Like “ee” in see “ee”
Й й I i or Y y like “y” in boy or toy “ee kratkoyeh”
К к K k Like “k” in kitten, “c” in cat. “kah”
Л л L l Like “l” in light “ehl”
М м M m Like “m” in mat “ehm”
Н н N n Like “n” in no “ehn”
О о Stressed: O o Unstressed: A a Like “o” in bore Like “a” in car “oh”
П п P p Like “p” in pot “peh”
Р р R r Like “r” in run (rolled) “ehr”
С с S s Like “s” in sam “ehs”
Т т T t Like “t” in tap “teh”
У у U u Like “oo” in boot “oo”
Ф ф F f Like “f” in fat “ehf”
Х х H h, KH kh Like “h” in hello or like the “ch” in Scottish ‘loch’ or German ‘Bach’ “khah”
Ц ц TS ts Like “ts” in bits “tseh”
Ч ч CH ch Like “ch” in chip “cheh”
Ш ш SH sh (hard) Like “sh” in shut “shah”
Щ щ SH sh (soft) Like “sh” in sheep “schyah”
Ъ ъ Hard Sign Letter before is hard “tvyordiy znahk”
Ы ы I i Like “i” in ill “i”
Ь ь Soft Sign Letter before is soft “myagkeey znahk”
Э э E e Like “e” in pet “eh”
Ю ю YU yu Like “u” in use or university “yoo”
Я я YA ya Like “ya” in yard. “yah”
Now let us practice saying Russian words using Russian numbers.
Russian numbers: 1 to 10
1 – один (a-deen)
2 – два (dva”)
3 – три (tree)
4 – четыре (chye-tyr-ye)
5 – пять (pyat)
6 – шесть (shest)
7 – семь (syem)
8 – восемь (vO-syem)
9 – девять (dYEv-yat)
10 -десять (“dYEshes-yat’)
Russian numbers: 11 to 19
11 – одиннадцать (adEEnadtsat’) Notice soft sign at the end of each number. It makes soft T
12 – двенадцать (dveenAdtsat’)
13 – тринадцать (treenAdtsat’)
14 – четырнадцать (chyetYrnadtsat’)
15 – пятнадцать (peetnAdtsat’)
16 – шестнадцать (shysnAdtsat’)
17 – семнадцать (syem’nAdtsat’)
18 – восемнадцать (vosyem’nAdtsat’)
19 – девятнадцать (devyatnAdtsat’)
Russian numbers: 20 and onwards
As you could see, the numbers 11-19 are simply formed by adding “надцать” to the numbers 1-9. (You will need to drop the soft sign, or the “е” in “четыре”)
20 in Russian is “двадцать”. The numbers 21-29 are formed in a similar way to English. Here are some examples:
20 – двадцать (dvAdtsat’)
21 – двадцать один (dvAdtsat’ a-dEEn)
22 – двадцать два (dvAdtsat’ dva)
23 – двадцать три (dvAdtsat’ trEE)
24 – двадцать четыре (dvAdtsat’ chye-tyr-ye)
Other compound numbers are formed in the same way, quite similar to English. (There is no need to use the word “and” in Russian). Here are the other numbers you will need to form numbers in Russia. It will be useful to learn as many of these numbers as you can because it makes it easier to understand the price of goods in Russian roubles.
30 – тридцать (trEEtsat’)
40 – сорок (sOrok)
50 – пятьдесят (pYAt’desyat)
60 – шестьдесят (shest’deYAat)
70 – семьдесят (sYEm’desyat)
80 – восемьдесят (vOsyem’desyat)
90 – девяносто (dyevyanOsto)
100 – сто (sto)
200 – двести (dvYEstee)
300 – триста (trEEsto)
400 – четыреста (chyetYresto)
500 – пятьсот (pyat’sOt)
600 – шестьсот (shest’sOt)
700 – семьсот (syem’sOt)
800 – восемьсот (vosem’sOt)
900 – девятьсот (dyevyat’sOt)
1,000 – тысяча (tYsyacha)
1,000,000 – миллион (meelleeOn)
1,000,000,000 – миллиард (meeleeArd)
For example: 131 – сто тридцать один (Sto tritsat’ a-deen)
When reading phone numbers you may also need to know the name of the digit 0.
0 – zero – (nol’)
Next time, we will talk about ordinal numbers.