New Vowels and the Soft Sign

Russian has 10 vowel letters — more than English's 5. Some of these vowels serve double duty: they indicate the vowel sound and signal whether the preceding consonant is "hard" or "soft." Understanding this hard/soft system is fundamental to Russian pronunciation.

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The Complete Vowel System

Russian vowels come in hard/soft pairs:

Hard Vowel	Sound	Soft Vowel	Sound	Effect on Preceding Consonant
А а	"ah"	Я я	"ya"	Я softens the consonant before it
Э э	"e" (as in "met")	Е е	"ye"	Е softens the consonant before it
О о	"o"	Ё ё	"yo"	Ё softens the consonant before it
У у	"oo"	Ю ю	"yu"	Ю softens the consonant before it
Ы ы	hard "i"	И и	"ee"	И softens the consonant before it

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The New Vowels in Detail

Я я — "YA"

Я is the last letter of the Russian alphabet. At the beginning of a word or after a vowel, it is pronounced "ya." After a consonant, it softens the consonant and sounds like "ah."

Position	Pronunciation	Example
Word-initial	"ya"	Яблоко (yabloko) — apple
After vowel	"ya"	моя (moya) — my (fem.)
After consonant	soft consonant + "ah"	мяч (myach) — ball

Ё ё — "YO"

Ё is always stressed — it is the only Russian letter that is never in an unstressed position. Unfortunately, in most printed text, the two dots are omitted and it is written as Е, which causes confusion for learners.

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
ёлка	yolka	Christmas tree
ёж	yozh	hedgehog
всё	vsyo	everything
лёд	lyod	ice

Tip: Whenever you see Е in a word and the pronunciation does not match "ye," it is likely Ё in disguise. Many dictionaries and textbooks for learners include the dots.

Ю ю — "YU"

Like the other soft vowels, Ю is "yu" at the start of a word and softens the consonant when it comes after one.

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
юг	yug	south
юбка	yubka	skirt
люди	lyudi	people
ключ	klyuch	key

Э э — "E" (as in "met")

Э makes a pure "e" sound without any preceding "y" glide. It is relatively rare in native Russian words but common in loanwords.

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
это	eto	this/it
этаж	etazh	floor/storey
эхо	ekho	echo
экзамен	ekzamen	exam

Ы ы — The Unique Russian Vowel

Ы is the most difficult Russian vowel for English speakers. It is a "deep, guttural i" sound — somewhere between "ee" and "uh." To produce it: