Russian spelling shows what a word is made of, not exactly how it sounds. Six regular rules connect the two. Learn them once and you can read any word aloud correctly, even one you have never heard.
A1 onwards15 min readTap any word to hear it
WrittenSaid
Same letters, different sounds. The six rules below explain every change.
Three o’s on the page, one o in the air. The stress (the syllable said louder and longer) decides how every vowel around it sounds.
The short answer
Find the stressed syllable first; everything else follows from it. Then apply five more rules, always in the same way. Russian has very few true exceptions, so these six rules let you read any word aloud.
Rule 1 · Stress
Stress comes first: it can fall anywhere and change the word
Every Russian word of two or more syllables has one stressed syllable, said louder, longer and clearer than the rest. Normal Russian texts don’t mark it; learner texts (and this site) use an accent: а́. The letter ё is always stressed. Stress is not fixed to one position, so learn it with every new word. In a few pairs it is the only difference between two words:
Rule 2 · Vowel reduction
Unstressed vowels weaken: о → “a”, е and я → “i”
Only the stressed vowel keeps its full sound. The others are said shorter and weaker, and three of them change colour. This is called vowel reduction. у, ы and и hardly change.
The closer a vowel is to the stress, the more of its sound it keeps. You will hear хорошо́ as “kha-ra-SHO”.
Written
Stressed
Unstressed
Example
Why
о
“o” as in “or”
“a” (or a short “uh”)
The most important rule. о is only “o” when stressed: compare во́ды (VO-dy, waters).
а
“a” as in “father”
short “a” or “uh”
а keeps its colour, it just gets shorter.
е
“ye” as in “yes”
“i” as in “bit”
Compare сёстры (SYOS-try, sisters), where the stress moves and the vowel is written ё.
я
“ya” as in “yard”
“i” (“ya” at the end of a word)
Before the stress я sounds like “yi”. At the end of a word it stays close to “ya”: ня́ня (NYA-nya, nanny).
Rule 3 · Hard and soft consonants
Most consonants come in two versions: hard and soft
A consonant is any letter that isn’t a vowel (т, м, л…). Most Russian consonants can be hard (the tongue flat, as in English) or soft (the middle of the tongue raised towards the roof of the mouth, as if a tiny “y” were starting). You don’t see softness as a separate letter: the next letter shows it.
Hard: the next letter isа э ы о уor another consonant, or the end of the word
Soft: the next letter isя е и ё ю ьь, the soft sign, has no sound: it only softens
Never changeж ш цч щ йж, ш, ц are always hard; ч, щ, й always soft, whatever follows
Softness changes meaning. Tap each pair and listen to the end of the word:
In our pronunciation guides an apostrophe marks a soft consonant: mat’ (мать). The ъ hard sign separates a consonant from a following я, е, ё, ю, which then start with a clear “y”: подъе́зд (pad-YEZD, entrance).
Rule 4 · Final devoicing
At the end of a word, б д г в ж з lose their voice
A voiced consonant is made with the vocal cords buzzing (put a finger on your throat and say “zzz”); a voiceless one has no buzz (“sss”). Six voiced consonants have voiceless partners. At the very end of a word, a voiced consonant is always said as its partner.
б↓ at the endп
в↓ at the endф
г↓ at the endк
д↓ at the endт
ж↓ at the endш
з↓ at the endс
Rule 5 · Assimilation
Neighbouring consonants match: the second one decides
When two consonants meet, the first copies the voice of the second. Before a voiceless consonant, voiced б д г в ж з turn voiceless; before a voiced one (except в), voiceless п т к ф ш с turn voiced. This works across short words too: в and с are said together with the next word.
Read the pair as one word. Russians never pause between в, с, к and the word that follows.
Rule 6 · Special spellings
Silent letters and fixed exceptions
A handful of spellings are kept for history and said differently. They appear in very common words, so they’re worth learning as a list.
Spelling
Said as
Example
Why
-ого / -его
“-ava / -iva”
г is said “v” in this ending of adjectives and pronouns: но́вого (NO-va-va).
что
“shto”
ч is said “sh” in что and its family: что́бы (SHTO-by).
чн (some words)
“shn”
Also in ску́чно (SKUSH-na, boring). Most other words keep “chn”.
вств
“stv”
The first в is silent. Also in чу́вство (CHUST-va, feeling).
лнц
“nts”
The л is silent.
рдц
“rts”
The д is silent.
сч, зч
“shch” (long soft “sh”)
Said like щ: also мужчи́на (mu-SHCHEE-na, man).
-тся / -ться
“-tsa”
The ending of reflexive verbs is one quick “tsa”.
The new sounds
Six sounds English doesn’t have, and how to make them
Everything else in Russian has a close English match. These six need practice; each card says what to do with your mouth.
Put it together
Read it aloud, then reveal
Each line uses several rules at once. The meaning is shown; work out the pronunciation yourself, then tap to reveal it, see the rules at work and hear it.