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WRITTEN молоко́ aaO SAID ma-la-KO · milk Only the stressed о keeps its full sound.
Vowel reduction, the most important sound rule: when о is not stressed it sounds like a short “a”.
Topic practice·зву́ки и бу́квы · sounds and letters

Russian sounds and spelling practice

Russian spelling is close to sound, but not identical. Unstressed vowels weaken, final consonants lose their voice, and a soft sign changes the consonant before it. Tap ▸ on any word to hear it, then choose.

A0–A220 questionsAnswered 0 · right 0
Sets
Letters and false friends Word stress Vowel reduction Hard, soft and devoiced consonants Intonation

Letters and false friends

Some Cyrillic letters look like Latin ones but stand for different sounds. Choose how each word sounds. Alphabet guide →

How does it sound?A0 mouth
How does it sound?A0 no
How does it sound?A0 juice
How does it sound?A0 you (plural, polite)

Word stress

Every Russian word has one stressed syllable, and it can fall anywhere. Learn each word with its stress: here it is marked with an accent. Pronunciation guide →

SAME LETTERS, DIFFERENT STRESSЗА́мокZA-mak · castleзаМО́Кza-MOK · lockThe stressed syllable (red) is louder and longer; the other vowel weakens.
Stress can change the word itself. Dictionaries and learner texts mark it with an accent; ordinary Russian text does not.
Which syllable is stressed?A1 water
Which syllable is stressed?A1 mum
Which syllable is stressed?A1 good, well
What changes?A2 castle · lock

Vowel reduction

Unstressed о sounds like “a”; unstressed е and я sound like a short “i”. Pronunciation guide →

How is the first о said?A1 window
How is е said?A1 sister
How is the first о said?A2 milk
How is я said?A2 language, tongue

Hard, soft and devoiced consonants

A consonant is “soft” when the middle of the tongue rises towards the roof of the mouth, as in the n of “new”. The soft sign ь and the vowels е, ё, и, ю, я make the consonant before them soft. At the end of a word, voiced consonants like д and б lose their voice and become т and п. Pronunciation guide →

AT THE END OF A WORDб → пв → фг → кд → тж → шз → схлеб → khlyep (bread)сад → sat (garden)гара́ж → ga-RASH (garage)The spelling keeps the voiced letter; only the sound changes.
A voiced consonant is said with the vocal cords buzzing (б, д); its voiceless partner is the same mouth shape without the buzz (п, т).
What does ь do here?A1 mother
How does the end sound?A1 bread
How does the end sound?A2 garage
Hard or soft л?A2 onion · hatch

Intonation

A yes/no question has the same words as a statement. Only the voice changes: it rises sharply on the word being asked about. Intonation guide →

STATEMENTQUESTIONТы до́ма.Ты до́ма?You’re at home.Are you at home?
The line shows the pitch of the voice. The words are identical; the sharp rise and fall on до́ма is what turns the statement into a question.
What makes it a question?A1 Are you at home?
Where does the voice rise?A2 Have you been to Moscow?
What tone at the end?A2 I’m a student.
Where is the stress in the question word?A2 Where are you?