Russian alphabet quiz & pronunciation trainer
Learn all 33 Russian letters with names, pronunciation notes and audio examples. Test Cyrillic recognition with visual or listening quizzes and review mistakes.
Explore a letter and hear its name and example word.
Choose visual or listening practice and a letter group.
Review mistakes and repeat the letters you find difficult.
Learn the letter, then listen in a word
Russian has 33 letters: 10 vowel letters, 21 consonant letters and two signs. Letter names help you spell; they are not the same as sounds inside words.
Letter name: а · vowel
Typical sound: /a/
An open vowel. In unstressed syllables its quality can change.
ма́ма
mother
Audio uses an installed Russian device voice. If no Russian voice is available, use the visual quiz and pronunciation notes. Sound symbols are broad guides; stress, neighbouring sounds and softness change pronunciation.
Test your alphabet recognition
Up to 10 shuffled letters. Review each explanation and retry mistakes at the end. Scores measure recognition, not spoken pronunciation.
Full alphabet reference: letters, names and examples
| Letter | Name | Example |
|---|---|---|
| А а | а | ма́ма · mother |
| Б б | бэ | банк · bank |
| В в | вэ | вода́ · water |
| Г г | гэ | го́род · city |
| Д д | дэ | дом · house |
| Е е | е | ель · spruce |
| Ё ё | ё | ёлка · fir tree |
| Ж ж | жэ | жук · beetle |
| З з | зэ | зима́ · winter |
| И и | и | и́мя · name |
| Й й | и кра́ткое | йо́гурт · yogurt |
| К к | ка | кот · cat |
| Л л | эль | ла́мпа · lamp |
| М м | эм | ма́ма · mother |
| Н н | эн | нос · nose |
| О о | о | окно́ · window |
| П п | пэ | па́па · father |
| Р р | эр | ры́ба · fish |
| С с | эс | сыр · cheese |
| Т т | тэ | там · there |
| У у | у | у́тро · morning |
| Ф ф | эф | фо́то · photo |
| Х х | ха | хлеб · bread |
| Ц ц | цэ | цирк · circus |
| Ч ч | че | чай · tea |
| Ш ш | ша | ша́пка · hat |
| Щ щ | ща | щётка · brush |
| Ъ ъ | твёрдый знак | подъе́зд · entrance |
| Ы ы | ы | сыр · cheese |
| Ь ь | мя́гкий знак | день · day |
| Э э | э | э́то · this |
| Ю ю | ю | юг · south |
| Я я | я | я́блоко · apple |
Continue with Russian cursive and handwriting practice or look up word stress. Alphabet reference: Russian Academy of Sciences spelling handbook.
Make sense of what you’re practicing
Start with the misleading lookalikes
В sounds like v, Н like n, Р like a Russian r, С like s, У like oo, and Х like the friction sound in Scottish “loch”. These letters look familiar to an English reader but can lead to incorrect guesses. Give them a separate practice session.
A letter name is not its sound in a word
Б is called бэ, but банк does not start with the whole syllable бэ. Learn letter names for spelling, then listen to letters inside complete words. The listening quiz asks for letter names, while example audio lets you hear a word.
Vowels help signal consonant softness
Е, ё, ю and я can include an initial y-like glide, or signal softness after many consonants. Russian also distinguishes и and ы. Learn these patterns with examples rather than treating every letter as one unchanging English sound.
Hard and soft signs are silent
Ъ and ь have spoken names but no independent sound in words. They affect spelling and how neighbouring letters are read. A recognition quiz can help you notice them; it cannot assess how you pronounce a sentence.