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When you learn Russian, the alphabet may seem a bit daunting at first, but you can master it quickly, unlike Russian spelling rules. When you learn how to spell, thatโs where things can get a little tricky.
Every language has its own unique set of spelling rules. Think โIโ before โEโ except after โCโ for English or the soft and hard โCโ of Spanish. Naturally Russian is no different.
With that in mind, you'll learn about:
The 7 letter rule
The 8 letter rule
The 5 letter rule
Spelling rule exceptions
Spelling rules with prepositions
So by the end of this post, you'll be spelling in Russian like a pro!
By the way, if you want to learn Russian fast and have fun, my top recommendation is Russian Uncoveredwhich teaches you through StoryLearningยฎ.
With Russian Uncovered youโll use my unique StoryLearningยฎ method to learn Russian through storyโฆ not rules. Itโs as fun as it is effective. If youโre ready to get started, click here for a 7-day FREE trial.
Russianโs Three Main Spelling Rules
Overall, the Russian language has three hard rules on spelling that Russian speakers learn at a relatively young age. And while youโll find loads of exceptions in English spelling, Russian spelling rules are held quite tightly.
In fact, breaking them was once used to shock or confuse readers in the avant-garde literary movement known as ะะฐัะผ (Zaum).
Most of these have to with which vowels can and canโt come after the ัะธะฟััะธะต/ sibilant consonants (ะถ, ั, ั and ั), the ะฒะตะปััะฝัะต/velar consonants (ะณ, ะบ and ั ), and hard consonant ั. In fact, each of three rules is named after how many of these letters it affects.
Itโs useful to remember that Russian vowels come in pairs with hard and soft versions. If you need a refresher, check out this guide to Russian pronunciation.
Hard
Soft
A (ah)
ะฏ (yah)
ะญ (eh)
E (yeh)
ะซ (oi)
ะ (ee)
ะ (oh)
(yoh)
ะฃ (oo)
ะฎ (yoo)
Russian hard and soft vowels
The 7 Letter Spelling Rule โ The Vowel ั
The hard vowel ั can never follow the velar letters ะณ ะบ ั or the silabents ะถ ั ั ั. Instead, youโll use the vowel ะธ.
ะฉะธ (shchi soup) NOT ัั
ะะธั (cooking oil) NOT ะถัั
Itโs particularly important to remember this rule when it comes toforming Russian adjectives. While you can add the ending -ัะน or -ะฝัะน to form an adjective, you have to remember this rule for any with these consonants.
ะขะธั ะธะน (quiet) NOT ัะธั ัะน
ะ ัััะบะธะน (Russian) NOT ััััะบัะน
This rule also comes up often when forming the genitive and plural form of some nouns.
ะะพะณะธ (of the foot) NOT ะฝะพะณั
ะะฝะธะณะธ (of the book) NOT ะบะฝะธะณั
The 8 Letter Spelling Rule โ The Vowels ั and ั
The soft vowels ั and ั can never follow the velar letters ะณ ะบ ั , the silabents ะถ ั ั ั and ั.
Instead, youโll need to use ั and ะฐ.
ะจัะผ (noise, rumble) NOT ััะผ
ะงะฐัะฐ (bowl, cup) NOT ัััั
This rule is particularly important when youโre conjugating verbs in Russian, especially in the first person singular and the third person plural.
This is part of the reason why youโll see ะณะพะฒะพัั (I speak) and ัะธัะฐั (I read), but never ะฒะธะถั (I see) or ัะฟัะพัั (I ask).
ะกะบะฐะถั (Iโll say) NOT ัะบะฐะถั
ะัััั (I hide) NOT ะฟัััั
ะะพะปัะฐั (they stop talking) NOT ะผะพะปััั
ะััััั (they hide) NOT ะฟััััั
The 5 Letter Rule โ Unstressed O
After the silabents ะถ, ั, ั, ั, and the letter ั, the vowel ะพ becomes an ะต when it is not stressed.
Youโll see this rule often in the plural form of the genitive case. This is why youโll see
ะะตะผัะตะฒ (of Germans) NOT ะฝะตะผัะพะฒ
ะะผะตัะธะบะฐะฝะตัะตะฒ (of Americans) NOT ะฐะผะตัะธะบะฐะฝะตัะพะฒ
ะะผะตัะธะบะฐะฝะตัะตะผ (American man) NOT ะฐะผะตัะธะบะฐะฝะตัะพะผ
Of all the spelling rules, this is the most difficult to master. However, donโt feel too much pressure since native Russian speakers have trouble with this one as well.
Limited Exceptions
There are a very limited number of exceptions to these three spelling rules. Almost all of these appear in loan words like ะฑัะพัััะฐ (brochure), ะถััะธ (jury), and ะัะทัะปะบัะผ (Kyzylkum Desert). Aside from this small set, itโs essential to follow the three basic spelling rules.
The Odds And Ends Of Russian Spelling
If you ask the average Russian speaker about the Russian spelling rules, they will almost certainly name the three we just covered. However, there are a few other points that you should know in order to spell Russian correctly.
Now that you've gone over the major Russian spelling rules, itโs worth mentioning a few other spelling conventions that youโll notice as you continue to learn Russian.
Russian Spelling With Prepositions
Although people often joke about how many consonants the Russian language likes to put together there is a limit.
As such, many prepositions will change forms to avoid consonant clusters that are too difficult to pronounce.
Usually, this means adding an โoโ to the end of a preposition to avoid something unpronounceable. Youโll see this most often before words starting with โะฒั-โ โัั-โ and โะผะฝ-โ.
ะะพ ะคะปะพัะธะดะต (in Florida) NOT ะฒ ะคะปะพัะธะดะต
ะะพ ะผะฝะต (to me) NOT ะบ ะผะฝะต
ะะพะดะพ ะผะฝะต (below me) NOT ะฟะพะด ะผะฝะต
ะะตะทะพ ะฒัะตะณะพ (without everything) NOT ะฑะตะท ะฒัะตะณะพ
ะะฑะพ ะผะฝะต (about me) NOT ะพะฑ ะผะฝะต
Forming Compound Words
As with English, many Russian words are made by putting smaller words together.
ะะฐั (steam) > ะฟะฐัะฝะธะบ (steam cooking)
As with English, there are a few rules on how to form a new word. In particular, certain letters are dropped when making these sort of compound words. These include ั, ะน, and ั.
ะััั > ะฟััั > ะฟััะฝะธะบ
(road, path) (traveller)
This particular rule is somewhat inconsistent and unpredictable. In fact, most native speakers couldnโt explain it. In other words, itโs good to be aware of, but donโt worry about learning the specifics.
Spelling Like A Native
Thatโs it! While Russian grammar can be quite complex, the spelling system has a succinct set of spelling rules that mostly affects 8 letters and a handful of prepositions.
And by this point you should have a good handle on
The 3 main spelling rules of Russian
Exceptions to the three main rules
Spelling rules with prepositions
With that under your belt, you can feel more confident about going and spelling some Russian words for yourself.
In the meantime, make sure you apply the StoryLearningยฎ method โ immerse yourself in stories in Russian. As you read in Russian and see Russian words in context, you'll pick up the spelling rules without really noticing it.
Until next time. And as always ะฃะดะฐัะฐ ะธะท ัะดะฐั! (Best of luck!)
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