Russian Language
The Russian language uses the Russian variation of the Cyrillic alphabet. I say variation because many other languages, including Mongolian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Kazakh and Bulgarian, are, or can be, written in Cyrillic. However, they use very slightly varied forms of Cyrillic, in the same way that French and English both use the Latin alphabet, but French has accent marks on some letters.
You will notice that a lot of these letters are similar or related to Latin (our alphabet) letters, and also to the Modern Greek alphabet. That's because both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabets can trace their origins back to the (Ancient) Greek alphabet. The Latin alphabet developed in the Roman Empire and established itself in much of Europe, and Cyrillic appeared in modern-day Bulgaria around the 8th century and found it's way to Russia and parts of eastern Europe. Of course the Greek, Latin and Cyrillic alphabets themselves have changed and evolved over time, but they are still pretty similar to their originals. Some letters have been added or removed over the centuries, but they are essentially the same.
Here I will show you the Russian Cyrillic alphabet with the approximately equivalent sounds in English and German. Some web brousers may not display the Russian letters. If you can't see the correct letters, go to 'View' in the browser, go to 'Character Encoding' or 'Encoding', and mess about till you see the letters correctly.
| Russian letter | English sound | German sound |
| А, а | "a" | "a" |
| Б, б | "b" | "b" |
| В, в | "v" | "v/w" |
| Г, г | "g" | "g" |
| Д, д | "d" | "d" |
| Е, е | "ye" | "je" |
| Ё, ё | "yo" | "jo" |
| Ж, ж | "zh" like "measure" | closest to "sch" |
| З, з | "z" | "s" in "Sohn" |
| И, и | "i/ee" | "i/ie" |
| Й, й | "y" | "j" |
| К, к | "k" | "k" |
| Л, л | "l" | "l" |
| М, м | "m" | "m" |
| Н, н | "n" | "n" |
| О, о | "o" | "o" |
| П, п | "p" | "p" |
| Р, р | "r" | "r" |
| С, с | "s" in "set" | "ss" in "wissen" |
| Т, т | "t" | "t" |
| У, у | "oo" | "u" |
| Ф, ф | "f" | "f" |
| Х, х | "ch" in Scot. "loch" | "ch" |
| Ц, ц | "ts" | "z" |
| Ч, ч | "ch" in "chip" | "tsch" |
| Ш, ш | "sh" in "shop" | "sch" |
| Щ, щ | "shch" like "posh chap" | "schtsch" |
| Ъ, ъ | silent | - |
| Ы, ы | closest to "i" like "is" | "i/�" |
| Ь, ь | silent | - |
| Э, э | "e" in "caf�" | "ee" like "See" |
| Ю, ю | "yoo" | "ju" |
| Я, я | "ya" | "ja" |
Basic phrases (that I know)
| Русский |
Transliteration |
English |
| Здравствуйте |
Zdravstvuytye |
Hello |
| Добрый день |
Dobriy dyen |
Hello (lit. 'good day') |
| Добрый вечер |
Dobriy vyechyer |
Good evening |
| Спокойной ночи |
Spokoynoy nochi |
Good night |
| До свидания |
Do svidaniya |
Goodbye |
| Где гостиница? |
Gdye gostinitsa? |
Where is the hotel? |
| Где банк? |
Gdye bank? |
Where is the bank? |
| Где метро? |
Gdye myetro? |
Where is the metro (underground)? |
| Что это? |
Chto eto? |
What is that? |
| Это дача |
Eto dacha |
It is a country house |
| Спасибо |
Spasibo |
Thank you |
| Пожалуйста |
Pozhaluysta |
Please / You're welcome |
| Да |
Da |
Yes |
| Нет |
Nyet |
No |
Random words and terms
| Русский |
Transliteration |
English |
| Россия |
Rossiya |
Russia |
| СССР |
SSSR |
USSR |
| Совецкий Союз |
Sovyetskiy Soyuz |
Soviet Union |
| Дом |
Dom |
House |
| Новости |
Novosti |
News |
| Москва |
Moskva |
Moscow |
| Владивосток |
Vladivostok |
Vladivostok |
| Владимир Путин |
Vladimir Putin |
Vladimir Putin |
| Борис Ельцин |
Boris Yeltsin |
Boris Yeltsin |
| Автомобил |
Avtomobil |
Car (Automobile) |
| Самолот |
Samolot |
Aeroplane |
| Бар, Пиво, Водка, Вино |
Bar, Pivo, Vodka, Vino |
Bar, Beer, Vodka, Wine |
| Туалет |
Tualyet |
Toilet |
| Ресторан |
Restoran |
Restaurant |
