Russian Pod 101

Russian letter: Я я

New look, familiar sound Order in the alphabet: 33

The letter Я is the last letter of the Russian alphabet. It looks like flipped R and sounds like yu in yummy.

When in a sentence by itself, it means I.

When unstressed and in the center of a word, it tends to sound like И.

Writing

Printed 1
Я я
Printed 2
Я я
Printed 3
Я я
Cursive
Я я
Hand-written 1
blank
Hand-written 2
Я я

Pronunciation

As in the alphabet
Actual sound
Transcription
[ ya ]
How to pronounce
like yu in yummy
Pronunciation tips

When it follows a consonant, the consonant becomes soft.
When unstressed and in the center of a word, it tends to sound like И.

Practice with syllables

  • мя
  • тя
  • дя
  • ля
  • бя
  • ся
  • яг
  • пя

Palavras com esta letra

Audio
With stress marks
я́ма
Cursive / Handwritten
яма
яма
Transcription / Translation
[ yá-ma ]
pitfall
Pronunciation tips
Audio
With stress marks
яд
Cursive / Handwritten
яд
яд
Transcription / Translation
[ yat ]
poison
Pronunciation tips

Д at the end sounds like Т.

Audio
With stress marks
я́блоко
Cursive / Handwritten
яблоко
яблоко
Transcription / Translation
[ yáb-la-ka ]
apple
Pronunciation tips

Unstressed О sounds like А.

Audio
With stress marks
ба́ба яга́
Cursive / Handwritten
баба яга
баба яга
Transcription / Translation
[ bá-ba ya-gá ]
baba yaga (Russian fairy tales character)
Pronunciation tips
Audio
With stress marks
кипято́к
Cursive / Handwritten
кипяток
кипяток
Transcription / Translation
[ kee-pee-tók ]
boiling water
Pronunciation tips

Unstressed Я in the middle sounds like И.

Practice with a worksheet

Practice the hand-written Russian letter Я as well as the syllables and words listed above, with this worksheet: download the worksheet.