How to pronounce Russian consonants
Part 1: Basic rules
In this lesson you will learn 21 consonant letters of the Russian alphabet (б, в, г, д, ж, з,
й, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х, ц, ч, ш, щ ) and how to pronounce them.
With few exceptions, Russian consonants can be pronounced either "soft" or "hard"
depending on the type of a letter that comes after them. For this reason, the 20 consonant
letters of the Russian alphabet can designate 37 distinct consonant sounds!
"Soft" and "hard" consonants
The basic rule is that consonants are "soft" if they are followed by soft-indicating vowels or
the soft sign. Consonants are "hard" when they are followed by hard-indicating vowels or
the hard sign.
The concept of "soft" and "hard" consonants should be familiar to you if you speak English.
The following example roughly shows that the letters m and l can be both "hard" and "soft"
in English. The word "soft" here means that your tongue should be arched against the roof
of your mouth (called the soft palate) so that it "softens" the sound.
Hard
Soft
moot
mute
lip
leap
Voiced and voiceless consonants
Just like in English, several Russian consonants come in pairs where one letter is
pronounced voiced and another one is similar but voiceless. For example, the English
letters b and p make the pair (try saying bat - pat to feel the difference). The word
"voiced" here means that your vocal chords should vibrate when making a sound. Vibration
of vocal chords is the main factor in grouping Russian consonants into voiced and voiceless.
Learn the following voiced-voiceless pairs in the Russian language:
Voiced
Voiceless
б
п
в
ф
г
к (rarely х)
д
т
ж
ш
з
с
Now you are ready for the important rule that Russian voiced consonants are pronounced as
their voicless counterparts when they appear in the the very end of the word. For instance,
the word год (year) is actually pronounced as гот, the word глаз (eye) sounds like глас,
the word бог (god) is said бох, etc.
Another rule is that voiced consonants become voiceless when they are followed by other
voiceless consonants. For example, the word подпись (signature) sounds
like потпись because the voiced letter д is followed by the voiceless п.
On the other hand, voiceless consonants sound voiced when they are followed by voiced
consonants. For example, the word футбол is pronounced as фудбол.
Written
Pronounced
год
гот
подпись
потпись
футбол
фудбол
поезд
поест
(д becomes т,
з becomes с)
мозг
моск
(г becomes к,
з becomes с)
бог
бох
Further you will find guidelines on pronunciation of Russian consonants. They are
accompanied with exercises to practice them with real Russian words.
How to pronounce "б"
The sounds /б/ and /б'/ are designated by the letter Б. The sound /б/ is the same as the
English b in but. Its "soft" version /б'/ is close to the English b in bee. The letter Б is
pronounced "soft" when it is followed by "soft" vowels or a soft sign. Practice these words:
hard /б/
бык
bik
bull
оба
o-bah
both
soft /б'/
бочка
boch-kah
barrel
берег
bye-ryek
shore
обязан
a-bya-zan
obliged
How to pronounce "в"
The "hard" /в/ is pronounced as v in voice. Its "soft" counterpart /в'/ is close to the
English v in view. The letter В is "soft" when followed by "soft" vowels or a soft sign, and it
is "hard" otherwise. Practice these words:
hard /в/
воcк
vosk
wax
вот
vot
so
soft /в'/
вода
vah-dah
water
вечер
vye-cheer
evening
вирус
vee-roos
virus
How to pronounce "г"
The letter Г designates the "hard" sound /г/ when followed by "hard" vowels, and the "soft"
sound /г'/ otherwise. /г/ sounds like the English g in go. You should arch your tongue
against the palate to get the /г'/ sound, which is close to the English g in girl. Practice
these words:
hard /г/
год
got
year
голова
gah-lah-vah
head
soft /г'/
гул
gool
hum
долги
dahl-gee
debts
гид
geet
gide
How to pronounce "д"
The sound /д/ is pronounced like d in dial. In order to pronounce /д'/ you should arch
your tongue agains the palate. Practice these words:
hard /д/
год
got
year
да
dah
yes
soft /д'/
дом
dom
house
дед
dyed
grand-dad
дядя
dya-dya
uncle
How to pronounce "ж"
The sound /ж/ is similar to s in leisure. The "soft" /ж'/ is very rare (can be found
in приезжать) and is not explained here. Practice these words:
hard /ж/
жест
zhest
gesture
жаба
zhah-bah
toad
может
mo-zhet
can
How to pronounce "з"
The sound /з/ is pronounced like z in zoom. Its "soft" counterpart /з'/ should be palatalised
like the English z in zeal. Practice these words:
hard /з/
золото
zo-lah-to
gold
зуб
zoop
tooth
soft /з'/
ваза
vah-zah
vase
визит
vee-zeet
visit
взял
vzyal
took
How to pronounce "к"
The sound /к/ is similar to the English c in clock, or ck in nock. The palatalised sound /к'/
is similar to c in cage, or k in okey. These sounds are designated by the letter K in
Russian. Practice these words:
hard /к/
как
kahk
how
кот
kot
cat
soft /к'/
бок
bok
side
кит
keet
whale
кедр
kyedr
cedar
How to pronounce "л"
The sound /л/ is pronounced like l in lump, but you should lower the back of your tongue
and touch the upper teeth with its tip. In order to get the "soft" counterpart /л'/ you should
palatalise the sound as in leak. In writing, these sounds are designated by the letter Л.
Practice these words:
hard /л/
лампа
lahm-pah
lamp
стол
stol
table
soft /л'/
лук
look
onion
Лена
lye-nah
Lena (name)
лист
leest
leaf
How to pronounce "м"
The sound /м/ is pronounced like m in monk. The "soft" sound /м'/ is pronounced as if it
followed by a short English y sound, and it is similar to the sound of m in muse. Practice
these words:
hard /м/
мост
most
bridge
маг
mahk
magician
soft /м'/
Москва
mahs-kvah
Moscow
миг
meek
blink
место
myes-tah
place
How to pronounce "н"
The letter Н makes the sound /н/ when it goes after "hard" consonants or a hard sign. It is
pronounced like n in noon. When followed by "soft" consonants or a soft sign, the
letter H makes the "soft" sound /н'/ which is close the English n in need. Practice these
words:
hard /н/
надо
nah-dah
need
нос
nos
nose
soft /н'/
сон
son
dream
нет
nyet
no
низко
nees-kah
low
How to pronounce "п"
The sound /п/ is pronounced like p in pot or mop. Its "soft" counterpart /п'/ is close
to p in pew because it is palatalised by arching the tongue against the palate. However,
you will need to palatalise it more to the Russian /п'/. These sounds are designated by the
letter П in writing. Practice these words:
hard /п/
пост
post
post
стоп
stop
stop
soft /п'/
пака
pah-kah
bye-bye
писк
peesk
squeak
выпь
vip'
bittern
How to pronounce "р"
The sounds /р/ and /р'/ are both rolled. The difference between them is that the sound /р'/
is palatilised by arching the tongue against the soft palate while the "hard" sound /р/ is not.
Practice these words:
hard /р/
рад
raht
glad
кора
kah-rah
bark
soft /р'/
метр
myetr
meter
ряд
ryat
row
река
ree-kah
river
How to pronounce "с"
The "hard" /c/ is close to the English s in soup. In order to get "soft" /c'/ you should
palatalise it by adding to it a short English y sound. You should get a sound close to the
English s in seed. Practice these words:
hard /с/
сад
saht
garden
сын
sin
son
soft /с'/
пост
post
post
сено
sye-nah
hay
сито
see-tah
sieve
How to pronounce "т"
The sound /т/ is close to the English t in ten, but you should touch the upper teeth with the
tip of your tongue. The sound /т'/ is palatalised as t in stew. These sounds are designated
by the letter Tin writing. Practice these words:
hard /т/
ток
tok
current
вата
vah-tah
cotton
soft /т'/
пост
post
post
кость
kost'
bone
тётя
tyo-tya
aunt
How to pronounce "ф"
The sound /ф/ is pronounced like f in fault. Its "soft" counterpart /ф'/ sounds more
like f in few. These sounds are designated by the letter Ф in writing. Practice these words:
hard /ф/
фаза
fah-zah
phase
флот
flot
fleet
soft /ф'/
фосфор
fos-fahr
phosphorus
физика
fee-zee-kah
physics
фен
fyen
drying fan
How to pronounce "х"
The sound /x/ is close to the English h in host. The "soft" /x'/ is similar to h in huge. These
sounds are designated by the letter X in writing. Practice these words:
hard /x/
хохот
kho-khaht
laughter
хлеб
khlyep
bread
soft /x'/
химия
khee-mee-ya
chemistry
орехи
ah-rye-khee
a nut (in plural)
How to pronounce "ц"
This sound is similar to the sound produced by the letters ts inwhat's up. It is designatd by
the letter Ц in writing. Practice these words:
always hard /ц/
цапля
tsahp-lya
heron
лица
lee-tsah
faces
How to pronounce "ч"
The consonant letter Ч can sound both "hard" and "soft". However, in the majority of cases
it is "soft" (even if followed by "hard" vowels) and sounds like ch in church. Practice these
words:
soft /ч'/
часто
chahs-tah
oftne
мечта
meech-tah
dream
How to pronounce "ш"
This sound is similar to the English sh in shake. It is designated by the letter Ш in writing
and /ш/ in phonetic transcription. Practice these words:
hard /ш/
шум
shoom
noise
ваш
vahsh
yours
How to pronounce "щ"
This sound is designated by the letter Щ in writing and /ш'/ in phonetic transcription. There
is no exact equivalent of the sound /ш'/ in English, but it is close to the sound made by
combining sh and ch. The main idea is to make the sound /ш/ palatilised by arching your
tongue against the soft palate. Practice these words:
soft /ш'/
щука
shchoo-kah
jackfish
щека
shchee-kah
cheek
How to pronounce "й"
The sound of letter й is represented by /j/. When the consonant й is the first letter in a
syllable, the sound is like "y" in "yes". When it terminates a syllable, the sound is like "y" in
"may". This sound is always "soft". It is also used to form "soft" vowels. You can find it in
the letters е, ё, и, ю, я.