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33 letters · Cyrillic The Ukrainian alphabet
Ukrainian uses a 33-letter Cyrillic alphabet. It shares most letters with Russian but has its own і, ї, є and ґ, and it does not use ы, э, ё or ъ. Below are all 33 letters with an English pronunciation hint and an example word with audio from a real native speaker.
The letter г sounds like an English h, while the rarer ґ sounds like the English g.
| Letter | Latin letters | Sounds like | Example word |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | a | a in father | адвокат advokat Lawyer |
| Б б | b | b in boy | батьки bat'ki Parents |
| В в | v | v in van (w at the end of a syllable) | вухо vuho Ear |
| Г г | h | h in house | голова golova Head |
| Ґ ґ | g | g in go | — |
| Д д | d | d in dog | дівчина divčina Girl |
| Е е | e | e in bed | економіст ekonomist Economist |
| Є є | ye | ye in yes | — |
| Ж ж | zh | s in measure | жінка žinka Woman |
| З з | z | z in zoo | зап'ясток zap'yastok Wrist |
| И и | y | short i, as in sit | — |
| І і | i | ee in see | ім'я im'ya Name |
| Ї ї | yi | yee in yeast | їжак ižak Hedgehog |
| Й й | y | y in boy (short) | — |
| К к | k | k in sky | кузен kuzen Male cousin |
| Л л | l | l in lamp | людина lyudina Person |
| М м | m | m in man | мати mati Mother |
| Н н | n | n in net | немовля nemovlya Baby |
| О о | o | o in more | олень olen' Deer |
| П п | p | p in spot | прізвище prizvišče Surname |
| Р р | r | rolled r | рот rot Mouth |
| С с | s | s in sun | сім'я sim'ya Family |
| Т т | t | t in stop | тітка titka Aunt |
| У у | u | oo in moon | — |
| Ф ф | f | f in fan | фен fen Hair dryer |
| Х х | kh | ch in Scottish loch | хлопець hlopets' Boy |
| Ц ц | ts | ts in cats | цибуля tsibulya Onion |
| Ч ч | ch | ch in cheese | чоловік čolovik Man |
| Ш ш | sh | sh in ship | шия šiya Neck |
| Щ щ | shch | sh-ch, as in fresh cheese | щока ščoka Cheek |
| Ь ь | (soft sign) | no sound; softens the consonant before it | — |
| Ю ю | yu | u in use | — |
| Я я | ya | ya in yard | язик yazik Tongue |
Next steps
Listen to every word by topic in the free Ukrainian vocabulary (462 words), then hear real Ukrainian phrases at two speeds. Want to read Cyrillic text in Latin letters? Try the Cyrillic to Latin transliterator.