What are common mistakes with Русский алфавит?

Learners confuse Cyrillic letters that look like Latin ones but sound different (В=V not B, Н=N not H, Р=R not P, С=S not C). 🇬🇧 English speakers: The 'false friends' trap — reading В as B, Н as H, Р as P. Also struggle with Ы, Ж, Щ sounds that don't exist in English. 🇨🇿 Czech speakers: Many sounds are familiar (Ž=Ж, Č=Ч, Š=Ш), but the Cyrillic script itself is new. Щ [shch] has no Czech equivalent. 🇩🇪 German speakers: Similar false-friend issues as English. German speakers also struggle with Ы, Ж, and the soft/hard sign distinction.

Русский алфавит

A1 — Фонетика

Cyrillic alphabet: 33 letters, printed vs cursive, vowels and consonants

Can read and write the Cyrillic alphabet and identify Russian letters

Cyrillic alphabet: 33 letters, printed vs cursive, vowels and consonants

Examples

А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й... — A, B, V, G, D, Ye, Yo, Zh, Z, I, Y...
Меня́ зову́т А́нна. — My name is Anna.
Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и. — Moscow is the capital of Russia.

ФонетикаA1

Русский алфавит

Cyrillic alphabet: 33 letters, printed vs cursive, vowels and consonants

Learning Goal

Can read and write the Cyrillic alphabet and identify Russian letters

Exam Skills:ПисьмоЧтение

Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?

А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й...

A, B, V, G, D, Ye, Yo, Zh, Z, I, Y...

Меня́ зову́т А́нна.

My name is Anna.

Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и.

Moscow is the capital of Russia.

Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?

Русский алфавит состоит из 33 букв: 10 гласных, 21 согласная и 2 специальных знака (ъ и ь).

Тип	Буквы
Гласные (10)	А а, Е е, Ё ё, И и, О о, У у, Ы ы, Э э, Ю ю, Я я
Согласные (21)	Б В Г Д Ж З Й К Л М Н П Р С Т Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ
Знаки (2)	Ъ (твёрдый знак), Ь (мягкий знак)

Буквы, похожие на латинские:

Буква	Звук	Ловушка
А а	[a]	Как в английском «father»
В в	[v]	НЕ как «B» — это звук «V»!
Н н	[n]	НЕ как «H» — это звук «N»!
Р р	[r]	НЕ как «P» — это звук «R»!
С с	[s]	НЕ как «C» — это звук «S»!
У у	[u]	Как «oo» в «moon»
Х х	[x]	НЕ как «X» — это звук «CH» (Bach)

Уникальные русские буквы: Ж [zh], Ц [ts], Ч [ch], Ш [sh], Щ [shch], Ы [ɨ], Э [e], Ю [yu], Я [ya].

Learners confuse Cyrillic letters that look like Latin ones but sound different (В=V not B, Н=N not H, Р=R not P, С=S not C). 🇬🇧 English speakers: The 'false friends' trap — reading В as B, Н as H, Р as P. Also struggle with Ы, Ж, Щ sounds that don't exist in English.

А, Б, В, Г, Д, Е, Ё, Ж, З, И, Й...

A, B, V, G, D, Ye, Yo, Zh, Z, I, Y...

The first 11 letters of the Russian alphabet with approximate sounds.

Меня́ зову́т А́нна.

My name is Anna.

Reading practice: М-е-н-я з-о-в-у-т А-н-н-а. Stress marks (´) show which syllable is stressed.

Москва́ — столи́ца Росси́и.

Moscow is the capital of Russia.

Practice reading: М-о-с-к-в-а. Note: В sounds like [v], not [b].

Practice in course

Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises

A1 Course

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Put it into practice

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Frequently asked questions

When is Русский алфавит used?: Русский алфавит состоит из 33 букв : 10 гласных, 21 согласная и 2 специальных знака (ъ и ь).
How is Русский алфавит formed?: Уникальные русские буквы: Ж [zh], Ц [ts], Ч [ch], Ш [sh], Щ [shch], Ы [ɨ], Э [e], Ю [yu], Я [ya].
What are common mistakes with Русский алфавит?: Learners confuse Cyrillic letters that look like Latin ones but sound different (В=V not B, Н=N not H, Р=R not P, С=S not C). 🇬🇧 English speakers: The 'false friends' trap — reading В as B, Н as H, Р as P. Also struggle with Ы, Ж, Щ sounds that don't exist in English. 🇨🇿 Czech speakers: Many sounds are familiar (Ž=Ж, Č=Ч, Š=Ш), but the Cyrillic script itself is new. Щ [shch] has no Czech equivalent. 🇩🇪 German speakers: Similar false-friend issues as English. German speakers also struggle with Ы, Ж, and the soft/hard sign distinction.