Ukrainian alphabet

 

Today, we’ll explore the Ukrainian alphabet and focus on letters that sound similar to English.

This will help you get comfortable with pronunciation and make reading Croatian easier and more fun.
Let’s start sounding out the letters together!

Ukrainian Alphabet and Pronunciation – Quick Introduction

What is the Ukrainian Alphabet?

Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which is different from the Latin alphabet (used in English).
It has 33 letters, and many of them represent one clear sound, which makes pronunciation more regular than in English.

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Ukrainian Alphabet Example:

Letter	Sound (like in English)	Example Word	Pronunciation
А а	a as in car	мама (mom)	ma-ma
Б б	b as in boy	брат (brother)	brat
В в	v as in van	вода (water)	vo-da
Г г	h as in hello (soft h)	гора (mountain)	ho-ra
Ґ ґ	g as in go	ґрунт (soil)	grunt
Д д	d as in dog	дім (house)	deem
Е е	e as in bed	метро (metro)	me-tro
Є є	ye as in yes	є (is)	ye
Ж ж	zh like pleasure	журнал (magazine)	zhur-nal
З з	z as in zoo	зима (winter)	zy-ma

(... and so on with the rest of the alphabet if needed)

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Sound Tips

• Ukrainian is phonetic, meaning you usually pronounce the word the way it’s written.

• Stress can change the sound slightly, but it’s not as irregular as in English.

• The letter и sounds like "i" in bit.

• The letter і sounds like "ee" in see.

• The letter ї is pronounced yee.

• The letter щ is like "shch" (as in “fresh cheese”).

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Final Notes

Learning the alphabet helps a lot with reading and pronunciation.
Once you can read the letters, you can sound out almost any Ukrainian word.

Let me know if you'd like a complete alphabet table, practice sheet, or lesson focused on specific sounds.