Russian / Transliteration
Russian transliteration, letter by letter
Transliteration maps each Cyrillic letter to Latin characters so English speakers can read it without learning the alphabet first. The table below uses a simplified, easy-to-read romanization; official standards (BGN/PCGN, GOST, ISO 9) exist for passports and library catalogs and disagree with each other on several letters, so treat any transliteration, including this one, as a reading aid, not a precise spelling.
What does each Russian letter sound like in English?
Six letters have no close Latin sound-alike at all (Ж, Ц, Ч, Ш, Щ, Ы) and two carry no sound of their own (Ъ, Ь). The rest map fairly cleanly, once you know which ones are false friends. Every romanization below links to that letter's full page.
| Letter | Name | Romanized | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | а | a | a, as in "father" |
| Б б | бэ | b | b, as in "bat" |
| В в | вэ | v | v, as in "van" |
| Г г | гэ | g | g, as in "go" (always hard, never soft) |
| Д д | дэ | d | d, as in "do" |
| Е е | е | ye | ye, as in "yes" |
| Ё ё | ё | yo | yo, as in "yolk" |
| Ж ж | жэ | zh | the s in "measure" or "pleasure" |
| З з | зэ | z | z, as in "zoo" |
| И и | и | i | ee, as in "see" |
| Й й | и краткое | ĭ | y, as in "boy" |
| К к | ка | k | k, as in "kit" |
| Л л | эль | l | l, as in "let" |
| М м | эм | m | m, as in "map" |
| Н н | эн | n | n, as in "net" |
| О о | о | o | o, as in "more" |
| П п | пэ | p | p, as in "pet" |
| Р р | эр | r | a rolled r, as in Spanish "perro" |
| С с | эс | s | s, as in "set" |
| Т т | тэ | t | t, as in "top" |
| У у | у | u | oo, as in "boot" |
| Ф ф | эф | f | f, as in "fit" |
| Х х | ха | kh | kh, as in the Scottish "loch" |
| Ц ц | цэ | ts | ts, as in "cats" |
| Ч ч | че | ch | ch, as in "chat" |
| Ш ш | ша | sh | sh, as in "shut" |
| Щ щ | ща | shch | a long, soft "shch", like saying "fresh cheese" fast |
| Ъ ъ | твёрдый знак | " | silent: it blocks the consonant before it from softening |
| Ы ы | ы | y | like the i in "roses", said further back in the throat; English has no real equivalent |
| Ь ь | мягкий знак | ' | silent: it softens (palatalizes) the consonant right before it |
| Э э | э | e | e, as in "met" |
| Ю ю | ю | yu | yu, as in "yule" |
| Я я | я | ya | ya, as in "yard" |