The vowel sounds in Russian language

The Russian sound system has vowel sounds which are presented like that in the Russian alphabet A – И – Е – Ё – О – У – Ы – Э – Ю – Я. These are good examples of words in English with similar sounds in Russian.

Аа – [ a ] – up
ананáс – [ ananás ] – a pineapple

Ёё – [ yo ] – yo!

ёлка – [ yolks ] – a Christmas tree

Ии – [ ee ] – meet

Ира – [ Ira ] – Ira (a girl’s name)

Ее – [ ye ] / [ je ] – yeti, yes

едá – [ yedá ] – food

Ёё – [ yo ] – yo!

ёлка – [ yolks ] – a Christmas tree

Оо – [ o ] – o’clock

If the letter ‘o’ is stressed we pronounce it like ‘o’.

If the letter ‘o’ is NOT stressed we pronounce it like ‘a’.

молокó – [ malakó ] – milk

корóва – [ karóva ] – cow

Уу – [ u: ] / [ oo ] – book

у́тка – [ útka ] – a duck

Ыы – [ y ] / [ yi ] – ugh (like in the word ‘to live’). However, the sound comes from the same place as when you pronounce the word ‘bird’ in English.

ты – [ ty ] – you (informal)

вы – [ vy ] – you (formal)

Ээ – [ a ] – like in the words ‘at’

э́то – [ áta ] – this

Юю – [ yu ] / [ ju ] – like in the words ‘Utah’, ‘university’

Ю́лия – [ úlia ] – Julia

Яя – [ ya ] / [ ia ] / [ ja ] – like in the word ‘yuck’

я́блоко – [ yáblaka ] – an apple

You can learn the Russian vowel sounds in the vocabulary section. After practicing the sounds you can listen to the audio and type them in the typing section. To check the answer, press the check section.