The Ukrainian language uses the Cyrillic script and has an alphabet consisting of 33 letters. There are 22 consonants (Б В Г Ґ Д Ж З Й К Л М Н П Р С Т Ф Х Ц Ч Ш Щ), 6 hard vowels (А Е И І О У), 4 soft vowels (Є Ї Ю Я) and a soft sign.
Three of the letters, Ґ, Є and Ї, are unique Ukrainian.
If you wish to read Ukrainian, you need to learn the alphabet thoroughly. This table will help you to do so.
А а
“a” in “father” or “car”
Áнглія
Б б
“b” in “bit”
Банáн, Бéльгія
В в
“v” in “vine”
Водá, вікнó
Г г
“h” in “hood” (Sometimes like a “g” in “gate”)
Гóра, гімн
Ґ ґ
Hard “g” in “go”
Ґáва
Д д
“d” in “do”
Дáма, дім
Е е
“e” in “met”
Естóнія
Є є
“ye” in “yes”
Єнóт
Ж ж
“s” in “measure”, “pleasure” (As there is no english symbol for this sound, it is usually represented as “zh”)
Жýк, жирáфа
З з
“z” in “zoo”
Зáмок, Зíна
И и
“i” in “ill” (Said with your tongue slightly back in your mouth. There is no English symbol for this sound)
Ти, ми
І і
“ee” in “see”
Іспáнія
Ї ї
“yie” in yield
Їжа
Й й
“y” in “boy”
Йод
К к
“k” in “kitten”
Кóма, кінó
Л л
“l” in “lamp”
Лáмпа, лíжко
М м
“m” in “man”
Мáма, мíсто
Н н
“n” in “not”
Нови́ни, ня́ня
O o
“o” in “folk”
Óпера
П п
“p” in “pet”
Пáва, пíсня
Р р
“r” in roll
Рот, ря́сно
С с
“c” in “city”
Спорт, сíм’я
Т т
“t” in “tap”
Такт, телефóн
У у
“oo” in “root”
Україна
Ф ф
“f” in “fine”
Флот, фінáнси
Х х
“h” in “hello”
Хор, хíмия
Ц ц
“ts” in “its”
Цінá
Ч ч
“ch” in “chips”
Час, чек
Ш ш
“sh” in “ship”
Шкíра
Щ щ
“sh” in “sheer” (with your tongue on the roof of your mouth)
Щу́ка, щі
Ь ь
Soft Sign’ makes preceding consonant soft
Сіль, кінь
Ю ю
“u” in “use”
Ю́нга
Я я
“ya” in “yard”
Я́хта
Exercise:
Read the following letters:
Бб, Кк, Aa, Гг, Нн, Ґґ, Дд, Ee, Жж, Вв, Фф, Оо, Зз, Сс, Йй, Лл, Рр, Ии, Мм, Уу, Пп, Тт, Чч, Хх, Цц, Чч, Іі, Шш, Щщ.
This course course will help you to start learning Ukrainian in easy and convenient way. You will learn how to read in Ukrainian and understand spoken language, learn basic grammar, vocabulary and useful phrases.
All materials (vocabulary lists, grammar explanation, texts, dialogues, audios, tests and practice exercises with answers) are on our website, so you can access them whenever you want.