Denis Fedorov – Russian alphabet – Handwriting in block letters

Russian alphabet: Handwriting in block

letters
Printed Handwritten English
Letter name Pronunciation
letter letter letter

Аа а
ah
A father

Бб бэ
beh
B boot

Вв вэ
veh
V voodoo

Гг гэ
geh
G goo

Дд дэ
deh
D do

Ее е [й’э]
yeh
YE yes

Ёё ё [й’о]
yo
YO your

Жж жэ
jeh
ZH rouge

Зз зэ
zeh
Z zoo

Ии и
ee
I meet

и кра́ткое
Йй (short И)
ee kratka-yeh
Y yes

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Denis Fedorov – Russian alphabet – Handwriting in block letters

Кк ка
ka
K skin

Лл эль
el
L pill

Мм эм
em
M moot

Нн эн
en
N noon

Оо о
o
O chore

Пп пэ
peh
P span

Рр эр
er
R ≈rest 1

Сс эс
es
S soup

Тт тэ
teh
T stand

Уу у
oo
U boot

Фф эф
ef
F fool

Хх ха
ha
H, KH home

Цц цэ
tseh
TS cats

1
The Russian R (Р) is rolled with the tip of the tongue.
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Denis Fedorov – Russian alphabet – Handwriting in block letters

Чч чэ
cheh
CH chip

Шш ша
sha
SH rush 2

Щщ ща
sha
SH sheep 3

твёрдый

Ъъ знак
(hard sign)
- f(ъ)ew 4
tvyordi znak

Ыы ы
iy
≈Y ≈hit 5

мя́гкий знак

Ьь (soft sign)
myahkee
- ≈f(ь)ew 6
znak

Ээ э
eh
E bed

Юю ю [й’у]
yoo
YU youth

Яя я [й’а]
ya
YA yard

*Russian words can’t start with letters Ы, Ъ, Ь.

2
A backward (hard) version of SH. Pull the tongue back.
3
A front (soft) version of SH. Push the tongue forward.
4
Occurs in English. Ъ = separation like /j/ in “few” /fjuː/.
5
A backward version of И. Pull the tongue backward.
6
Does not occur in English. Sounds similar to /j/ in “few” /fjuː/ inside words. Changes the sounding of a preceding
consonant by making it soft/palatalized. To learn to pronounce Ь, you need to learn to pronounce soft/palatalized
consonants first. Until then, pronounce the soft sign (Ь) exactly like the hard sign (Ъ) inside words and use mimicry
to produce it at word-final positions.
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