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Russian pronunciation rules are rather simple as compared to English. For example, there are no words in Russian that sound the same but have substantially different spelling like English "knight" and "nite". With a few adjustments to common spelling and stress rules, Russian words can be read by combining the individual letters in a word same way as you do when reading the word "mama" in English.

In this lesson you will learn ten Russian vowels and several basic pronunciation rules. You will find that almost all Russian vowels have pretty close English sounds. In general, Russian vowels are divided into two basic types: "soft-indicating" and "hard-indicating" vowels. The "hard-indicating" vowels are а, э, ы, у, о. Russian "soft-indicating" vowels are formed from their "hard-indicating" counterparts by adding an English sound of "y" at the beginning. Thus you will get such "soft-indicating" vowels as я, е, ё, ю, и.

Notice, that vowel groups are marked as "soft-indicating" and "hard-indicating" because they indicate whether the preceding consonant is "hard" or "soft". In this sense, the Russian pronunciation system should be looked at as a unity of vowels and consonants. For now, do not worry if you do not understand what "hard" and "soft" mean. Just try to learn the pronunciation of vowels and memorize what group ("soft-indicating" or "hard-indicating" ) each of them belongs.

If you really want to learn Russian vowels, you should practice. Here we give guidelines on pronunciation of five "hard-indicating" Russian vowels. They are accompanied with exercises so that you could practice them with real Russian words.

A as in Ah

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This vowel is pronounced in two different ways depending on stress. When stressed, it is close to the sound of the English word Ah, but shorter. When unstressed, it is pronounced like u in the word nut. Practice these words:

You've probably noticed that the letter o is pronounced like unstressed a in the words вода and масло. This is an important rule of the Russian pronunciation.

O as in law

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You already know that unstressed letter o is pronounced like unstressed a. But when it is stressed, is sounds like English aw in law. Practice these words:

Ы

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This vowel does not have an equivalent in English. Try to invest some time in learning it and differentiating from other sounds. To get Russian sound ы, you should  place your tongue in the position right between the positions of English sounds i in kit and u in sugar. Then make a new sound of ы. Note that this sound is different form the English i in bit. Now practice these words:

У as in wood

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The letter у sounds like oo in wood. In unstressed positions, it is pronounced a little bit quicker than in stressed positions. Practice these exercises:

Э as in net

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This sound is close to e in pet. Practice these words:

Quick reference on "hard-indicating" vowels

Next page > Russian "Soft-indicating" Vowels > Page 1, 2

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