Russian Basics
Introduction
Russian (русский язык, tr. russkiy yazyk) is an East Slavic language native to Russia in Eastern Europe. It is he most spoken Slavic language.
The beauty of Russian is that you pronounce what you read.
The Russian language looks complicated at first glance. But most of that has to do with its alphabet. We'll get that out of the way first.
Alphabet & Pronunciation
| Letter | Sounded As | Pronounce Like | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| А | ah | father | |
| Б | b' | boring | |
| В | v' | van | |
| Г | g' | game | |
| Д | d' | dome | |
| Е | ye | yes | |
| Ё | yo | yoga | |
| Ж | zh | pleasure | |
| З | z | zoo | hard z |
| И | ii | eel | |
| Й | y' | boy' | |
| К | k | cat | |
| Л | l | large | |
| М | m | mohter | |
| Н | n | no | harder, tongue behind teeth |
| О | oo | boring | |
| П | p | park | shorter, don't breathe out |
| Р | rr | roll your r | |
| С | ss | sad | |
| Т | t | tome | harder, tongue behind teeth |
| У | uu | book | |
| Ф | f | fork | |
| Х | h | hard h | |
| Ц | ts | it's | |
| Ч | ch | church | |
| Ш | sh | ||
| Щ | scsh | ||
| Э | eh | let | |
| Ю | yu | universe | |
| Я | ya | yatch |
The nice thing about Russian is that once you are comfortable with the alphabet, everything is pronounced as it is written.
Modifiers
| Modifier | Name | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Ь | soft sign | Makes some letters (consonants) soft |
| Ъ | hard sign | Divides words for easier pronunciation |
| Ы | there's no equivalent in English |
The Most Important thing about Russian Pronuncition
NO ONE CARES!
Video Explanation of Ыы
Additonal Info
Now that we have covered the alphabet and pronunciation, let's look at some additional things to help on your Russian learning journey.
In Russian, there is no verb "to be". You directly link to the noun or profession So instead of I am a doctor,we say I doctor.
Let's look at what would be subject pronouns in English:
| Russian | English | Usage | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Я | I | Я ДОКТОР | I am a doctor |
| ТЫ | You | ТЫ СТУДЕНТ | You are a student |
| ОН | He | ОН МУЖЧИНА | He is a man |
| ОНА | She | ОНА ЖЕНЩИНА | She is a woman |
| ОНО | It | *Used in a different way | |
| МЫ | We | МЫ УЧИТЕЛЯ | We are teachers |
| ВЫ | You (plural) | ВЫ КОСМОНАВТ | You are an astronaut |
| OНИ | They | ОНИ ДЕТИ | they are children |
We wll look at how ОНО is used a little later.