Lesson 4.1
- The Russian alphabet (part 4) : letters that sound like English letters but are written differently.
- Voiced / voiceless consonants (part 2)
The Russian alphabet (part 4) : letters that sound like English letters but are written differently
Ш / ш – This letter is pronounced « sh » in Russian.
Example :
Шок (shok) – shock
Ё / ё – This vowel is pronouned « yo ».
Example :
Актёр (aktyor) – actor
The letter ё is always stressed and the stress is never marked.
X / х – This letter is pronounced like the English H.
Example :
Хобби (hobbi) – hobby
Э / э – This letter is pronounced « e » like in the word « education ».
Example :
Поэт (paet) – poet
Ю / ю – The sound « yoo », as in the word « costume », is written with a single letter in Russian.
Example :
Плюс (plyoos) – plus
To pronounce the Russian sound properly, exaggerate the rounding of the lips.
Ж / ж – This letter is pronounced « j », as in the word « treasure ».
Example :
Жасмин (jasmin) – jasmine
Voiced / unvoiced consonants (part 2)
Д / Т
Шоколад (shakalat) – chocolate
In this word, the letter д is pronounced « t » ; that is because it is a voiced consonant, and at the end of a word, it is reduced and pronounced like its voiceless counterpart, the consonant т.
Ж / Ш
This is a third pair of voiced /unvoiced consonants : the letter ж, which is a voiced consonant, is pronounced like its voiceless counterpart, the consonant ш, if it is the last letter of the word.
Examples :
Массаж (masash) – massage
Париж (Parish) – Paris
Гараж (garash) – garage