Learn about Russian consonants
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| Hi everyone. |
| Welcome to The Ultimate Russian Pronunciation Guide. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn 11 Russian consonant sounds. |
| Have you noticed how most consonant sounds are in pairs? That's because in Russian, consonants can be classified as either a hard or a soft consonant based on palatalization. We'll learn more about hard and soft consonants, and palatalization, in lesson 7. For now, just focus primarily on pronouncing each of these sounds properly. |
| Are you ready? |
| Then let's get started! |
| The first consonant is... |
| б |
| бок (side) |
| небо (sky) |
| It sounds like the B in the word 'buy'. |
| b, b (slowly) |
| b, b (slowly) |
| And here's the soft version. |
| бь |
| беглый (cursory) |
| воробей (sparrow) |
| This is almost like saying a B and a Y sound at the same time. To produce the soft versions of a consonant, raise the middle part of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, as if you're about to say the word 'yeah', and try to pronounce it alongside the consonant. Speakers of English can sometimes produce this sound when they say the word 'beautiful'. |
| бь, бь (slowly) |
| бь, бь (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| д |
| дом (house) |
| дверь (door) |
| Like the D in the word 'dad', except in Russian, the D sounds a little heavier. Stress this consonant more than you would in English by flattening the tip and the blade of your tongue behind the back of your teeth. |
| д, д (slowly) |
| д, д (slowly) |
| And here's the soft version. |
| дь |
| делать |
| Владимир |
| Pronounce the D sound like you did before, but remember to raise your tongue to the roof of your mouth to produce a slight Y sound alongside it. Try to pronounce it at the same time or immediately after pronouncing the consonant. You can sometimes pronounce this sound by saying the word 'adieu'. |
| дь, дь (slowly) |
| дь, дь (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| ф |
| фата (veil) |
| орфография (orthography) |
| Like the F in the word 'find'. |
| ф, ф (slowly) |
| ф, ф (slowly) |
| And here's the soft version. |
| фь |
| фея (fairy) |
| фьорд (fjord) |
| Some English speakers can pronounce this sound when saying the word 'few'. |
| фь, фь (slowly) |
| фь, фь (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| г |
| говорю (I speak) |
| другой (another, other) |
| Like the G in the word 'good'. |
| г, г (slowly) |
| г, г (slowly) |
| And here's the soft version. |
| гь |
| гербарий (herbarium) |
| ноги (legs) |
| It's similar to the G in the word 'argue'. |
| гь, гь (slowly) |
| гь, гь (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| й |
| май (May) |
| йог (yogi)" |
| Like the Y in the word 'yes'. |
| й, й (slowly) |
| й, й (slowly) |
| The next consonant is... |
| к |
| кость (bone) |
| книга (book) |
| Like the K in the word 'kangaroo'. |
| к, к (slowly) |
| к, к (slowly) |
| The final consonant for this lesson is... |
| "кь |
| кино (movie) |
| кимоно (kimono) |
| It's similar to the C in the word 'cute'. |
| кь, кь (slowly) |
| кь, кь (slowly) |
| Well done! You just learned your first 11 Russian consonants. |
| Was seeing the pronunciation illustrations helpful? Please comment and share your thoughts. |
| In the next lesson, you'll learn 14 more consonant sounds in Russian. |
| See you in the next Ultimate Russian Pronunciation Guide lesson! |
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