LinguaThirty-three letters – twelve of them look familiar
Russian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet: 33 letters. Twelve of them are drawn exactly like Latin letters, and that is where the good news and the trap both live. Five of those twelve also sound like the Latin letter. The other seven do not.
| Letter | Sounds like | Word |
|---|---|---|
| А а | a in father | мама |
| К к | k in key | кот |
| М м | m in moon | мама |
| О о | o in sport | окно |
| Т т | t in table | театр |
The seven false friends
These letters look Latin and sound like something else. Reading them as English is the single most common beginner mistake, and it survives for years if it is not broken on day one.
| Letter | Sounds like | Word |
|---|---|---|
| В в | v in voice | вот |
| Е е | ye in yes, or plain e after a consonant | метро |
| Н н | n in no | нос |
| Р р | rolled r, as in Spanish pero | рот |
| С с | s in sun | сестра |
| У у | oo in boot | рука |
| Х х | ch in Scottish loch | муха |
Six words you can already read
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| вот | here is (pointing at something) |
| тут | here |
| там | there |
| нет | no, there is not |
| это | this is |
| и | and |
Two of those words need letters that belong to the next lesson: э is a plain e sound, and и is ee. They are in every second Russian sentence, so take them now and meet the rest tomorrow.
Вот кот.Here is the cat.
Это метро.This is the metro.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| кот | cat | Это наш кот. This is our cat. |
| мама | mum, mother | Моя мама дома. My mother is at home. |
| нос | nose | У кота холодный нос. The cat has a cold nose. |
| рот | mouth | Откройте рот. Open your mouth. |
| рука | hand, arm | Дайте мне руку. Give me your hand. |
| сестра | sister | Моя сестра тут. My sister is here. |
| море | sea | Там море. The sea is over there. |
| метро | metro, underground | Метро тут, рядом. The metro is here, nearby. |
| ресторан | restaurant | Это хороший ресторан. This is a good restaurant. |
| театр | theatre | Театр там. The theatre is over there. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which letter spells the rolled r sound?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.