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The best way to start learning Cyrillic is with the letters that already look and sound familiar to an English speaker. These "true friends" will give you an immediate sense of confidence and allow you to start reading simple words right away.
These letters look like Latin letters and represent the same (or very similar) sounds:
| Letter | Name | Sound | Latin Equivalent | Example Word |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| А а | а (ah) | "ah" as in "father" | A | автобус (avtobus) — bus |
| Е е | е (ye) | "ye" as in "yet" | — | есть (yest') — to eat |
| К к | ка (ka) | "k" as in "kite" | K | кот (kot) — cat |
| М м | эм (em) | "m" as in "map" | M | мама (mama) — mum |
| О о | о (o) | "o" as in "bore" | O | он (on) — he |
| Т т | тэ (te) | "t" as in "top" | T | там (tam) — there |
Russian А always makes the open "ah" sound (as in "father"), never the flat "a" of "cat" or the long "ay" of "cake."
Unlike the English "E," Russian Е is pronounced "ye" at the beginning of a word or after a vowel:
When О is stressed, it sounds like a clear "o" (as in "more"). When it is unstressed, it reduces to an "ah" sound:
This is called vowel reduction (аканье, akan'ye) and is one of the most important pronunciation rules in Russian.
Tip: When you see О in Russian, check if it is the stressed syllable. If not, pronounce it closer to "ah."
A few additional letters are familiar but have slightly different shapes from what you might expect:
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