LinguaThirty-three letters, and some you already know
Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet: thirty-three letters, each with a big and a small shape. The good news comes first – several of them are drawn exactly like Latin letters, and a few of those are even read the same way. А is a, К is k, М is m, О is o, Т is t. Start with six letters and learn the hand movement, not only the picture.
Big А is drawn exactly like the Latin A: two slanted strokes and a bar. Small а is a circle with a line down its right side.
This one is new. Big Б: the line down, the bar going right at the top, then one belly at the bottom. Small б has a tall hook curving right, and the belly under it.
Looks like the Latin B and is read as v. Two bellies on one line; the small в is the same shape, half the height.
A corner: the line across the top and one leg down from its left end. It is read as g.
A little house: the roof on top, two slanted walls, a wide floor and two small feet under it.
Drawn exactly like the Latin E and e, but read as ye: the sound of yes at the start of a word.
| Letter | Sounds like | A word with it |
|---|---|---|
| Аа | a | арбуз |
| Бб | b | банан |
| Вв | v | вода |
| Гг | g | год |
| Дд | d | дом |
| Ее | ye | ели |
One warning about В. It is the letter that catches every beginner: the shape is the Latin B, the sound is v. There is no Cyrillic letter shaped like B that sounds like b – that job belongs to Б, which looks like nothing in the Latin alphabet.
водаwater
домa house
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| арбуз | watermelon | Это арбуз. This is a watermelon. |
| банан | banana | Это банан. This is a banana. |
| вода | water | Вот вода. Here is water. |
| год | year | Один год. One year. |
| дом | house | Мой дом. My house. |
| да | yes | Да, это дом. Yes, this is a house. |
| где | where | Где вода? Where is the water? |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- trace the letter: 3
- multiple choice: 4
- fill the gap: 1
- match the pairs: 1
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Write the letter А.
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.