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The Ukrainian alphabet

33 letters, each with its name and roughly the sound it makes. The sounds are English approximations — enough to sound a word out, not enough to pass for a local.

🇺🇦 Cyrillic · An alphabet: vowels and consonants are letters of equal standing.

Thirty-three letters, and not the Russian set: Ukrainian has І, Ї, Є and Ґ, and does not use Ё, Ъ, Ы or Э. Its И sounds like the English i in bill, while І is the ee sound.

New to it? Our beginner's guide to the Ukrainian alphabet explains how the script works and gives you a plan to learn it.

• А а a a in father
• Б б be b
• В в ve v, w at the end of a syllable
• Г г he h
• Ґ ґ ge hard g
• Д д de d
• Е е e e in bet
• Є є ye ye in yes
• Ж ж zhe s in measure
• З з ze z
• И и y i in bill
• І і i ee in see
• Ї ї yi yee
• Й й yot y in boy
• К к ka k
• Л л el l
• М м em m
• Н н en n
• О о o o in more
• П п pe p
• Р р er rolled r
• С с es s
• Т т te t
• У у u oo in boot
• Ф ф ef f
• Х х kha ch in loch
• Ц ц tse ts in cats
• Ч ч che ch in chair
• Ш ш sha sh
• Щ щ shcha shch
• Ь ь soft sign silent, softens
• Ю ю yu u in use
• Я я ya ya in yard

Now read something in it

The letters are the smaller half. The 10,000 commonest Ukrainian words are where they start meaning something.

Cyrillic is also used for Russian, Bulgarian and Macedonian. The letters mostly carry over; a handful do not.

Reading it is one thing.

Being understood when you say it is another. That takes a person.

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