English to Rissian (Russian): Phrasebook, Alphabet and Translation Tips

This page is a practical English-to-Russian phrasebook: greetings, polite words, introductions, travel phrases, numbers, days of the week and emergency phrases, each with Cyrillic, an easy-to-read pronunciation and notes on formal and informal use. After that you'll find a guide to the Cyrillic alphabet – including the letters that look like English ones but aren't – tips on typing Russian, and honest advice on online translators.

How to read the pronunciation: capital letters mark the stressed syllable (spa-SEE-ba). "kh" is the throaty sound in Scottish "loch", "zh" is the s in "measure", and an apostrophe (') means the consonant before it is soft, as if followed by a tiny "y". Russian stress is not marked in normal writing, so it has to be learned with each word.

Russian in a Nutshell

Russian is an East Slavic language, closely related to Ukrainian and Belarusian. It is the official language of Russia and widely spoken across the former Soviet Union, with roughly 255 million speakers in total by commonly cited estimates. A few features matter for anyone translating from English:

• Two kinds of "you". ты (ty) is familiar and singular; вы (vy) is polite and also plural. Many phrases change with it: Как тебя зовут? vs Как вас зовут?
• No "a" or "the", and no "am/is/are" in the present tense: Я турист = "I (am a) tourist".
• Six grammatical cases. Word endings change with a word's role in the sentence, so the same noun can appear in several forms.
• Three genders. Past-tense verbs and many adjectives agree with the speaker: a man says я хотел, a woman я хотела.
• Moveable stress. Unstressed О sounds like "a", which is why молоко (milk) is said ma-la-KO.

English to Russian Phrasebook

The Cyrillic Alphabet: All 33 Letters

The Russian alphabet has 33 letters. Some look and sound like English letters, some look familiar but sound different, and the rest are new. An afternoon with this table and you'll be able to sound out signs and menus – many words turn out to be familiar: такси (tak-SEE), кафе (ka-FE), банк, метро.

Letter	Sounds like	Example	Say it / meaning
А а	a in "father"	да	da – yes
Б б	b	банк	bank – bank
В в	v (not b!)	вода	va-DA – water
Г г	g in "go"	город	GO-rat – city
Д д	d	дом	dom – house
Е е	ye in "yes"	нет	nyet – no
Ё ё	yo in "yonder" (always stressed)	ёлка	YOL-ka – fir tree
Ж ж	s in "measure" (zh)	жена	zhe-NA – wife
З з	z (looks like the number 3)	зима	zee-MA – winter
И и	ee (looks like a backwards N)	мир	meer – peace, world
Й й	y in "boy"	чай	chai – tea
К к	k	кот	kot – cat
Л л	l	лес	lyes – forest
М м	m	мама	MA-ma – mum
Н н	n (not h!)	нос	nos – nose
О о	o when stressed, a when not	окно	ak-NO – window
П п	p (lower-case looks like n)	папа	PA-pa – dad
Р р	rolled r (not p!)	рыба	RY-ba – fish
С с	s (not k)	сок	sok – juice
Т т	t (handwritten, looks like m)	там	tam – there
У у	oo in "boot" (not y!)	утро	OO-tra – morning
Ф ф	f	фото	FO-ta – photo
Х х	kh as in "loch" (not x)	хлеб	khlyep – bread
Ц ц	ts in "cats"	улица	OO-lee-tsa – street
Ч ч	ch in "chip"	час	chas – hour
Ш ш	sh (hard)	шапка	SHAP-ka – hat
Щ щ	long soft sh ("shch")	борщ	borshch – borscht (see Russian food)
Ъ ъ	hard sign: no sound, separates syllables	подъезд	pad-YEST – entrance (of a building)
Ы ы	a deep "i", between "ee" and "i" in "bit"	сыр	syr – cheese
Ь ь	soft sign: no sound, softens the consonant before it (looks like b)	соль	sol' – salt
Э э	e in "met"	это	E-ta – this
Ю ю	yu in "you"	юг	yook – south
Я я	ya in "yard" (looks like a backwards R)	я	ya – I

Lookalike Letters: The Classic Pitfall

The biggest trap for English speakers is the group of Cyrillic letters that look exactly like Latin ones but stand for different sounds. The famous example is the sign РЕСТОРАН, which tourists read as "pectopah" – it actually says restoran, "restaurant".

Looks like Latin…	Cyrillic letter	Real sound	Example
B	В	v	Вода = va-DA (water)
H	Н	n	Нет = nyet (no)
P	Р	r	Ресторан = rees-ta-RAN (restaurant)
C	С	s	Спасибо = spa-SEE-ba
y	У	oo	Утро = OO-tra (morning)
X	Х	kh	Хлеб = khlyep (bread)
E	Е	ye	Нет = nyet
M, T, K, A, O	М, Т, К, А, О	roughly the same	Кот = kot (cat)
backwards N / R	И / Я	ee / ya	Мир = meer; Я = ya
n, b (lower case)	п, ь	p / soft sign	папа = PA-pa

Handwriting and italics add a second layer: in cursive, т looks like an m, д like a g, and и like a u. If a handwritten note seems to contain English letters, read it as Cyrillic first.

Typing in Russian: Keyboards and Layouts

Because Cyrillic and Latin letters can look identical, text typed with the wrong characters looks fine on screen but is gibberish to computers. Latin "p", "c", "y" and "e" are different characters from Cyrillic р, с, у and е, so a word like "Пpивeт" typed with a mix of both won't be found by search engines, spell-checkers or translators. Searches like "oppy eto mecru nrpbl" often come from exactly this kind of mix-up – Russian typed with Latin lookalikes or on the wrong keyboard layout; the fix is to switch to a real Russian keyboard.

How to add a Russian keyboard

• Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Russian. Switch layouts with Win + Space (or Alt + Shift). A phonetic "Russian – Mnemonic" layout is also available.
• macOS: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Russian. "Russian – PC" matches the Windows layout; "Russian – Phonetic" maps letters to similar-sounding English keys. Switch with Control + Space or the Globe key.
• iPhone and Android: add Russian in your keyboard settings, then tap the globe key to switch.
• Phonetic layouts are easiest for beginners (Р is on R, С on S); the standard layout is faster once you type Russian a lot.

Online Translators: Honest Advice

Machine translators such as Google Translate, DeepL and Yandex Translate are genuinely good at giving you the gist of a Russian text, and fine for a menu or a simple message. For anything that matters, know their weak spots:

• ты or вы: English "you" hides the choice, so the tool may pick the wrong level of politeness.
• Gender: "I'm grateful" is благодарен for a man and благодарна for a woman; the tool has to guess.
• Idioms and slang are often translated word for word – see our guide to Russian idioms for why that fails.
• No stress marks, so you still won't know how to pronounce the result.
• Names and titles may be translated when they should be transliterated.

Tips: write short, simple English sentences; translate the result back into English to check it; and for legal, medical, immigration or business documents, use a qualified human translator.

Where to Go Next

Each basic phrase has its own detailed guide: hello and all the formal greetings, casual hi and introducing yourself, asking and answering "how are you", and thank you and you're welcome. For the bigger picture of why the site uses the spelling "Rissian", read what "Rissian" means.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Rissian a real language?

No. "Rissian" is a common misspelling of Russian. When people search for "English to Rissian", they want to translate English into Russian, the language written in the Cyrillic alphabet.

How do I translate English to Rissian?

Use a phrasebook like the one on this page for everyday phrases, and a machine translator such as Google Translate, DeepL or Yandex Translate for the gist of longer texts. For important documents, hire a qualified human translator.

How many letters are in the Russian alphabet?

The Russian Cyrillic alphabet has 33 letters, including two signs with no sound of their own: the hard sign Ъ and the soft sign Ь.

Why does my Russian text look like ghbdtn or come out wrong?

"ghbdtn" is привет typed on the Russian key positions while the English layout was on. If Russian words are typed with Latin lookalike letters (p, c, y, e), they look right but computers can't read them. Switch to a real Russian keyboard layout.

Which Russian letters look like English letters but sound different?

The main ones are В (v), Н (n), Р (r), С (s), У (oo), Х (kh) and Е (ye). For example, РЕСТОРАН reads restoran, "restaurant".

What are the most useful Russian words for a trip?

Здравствуйте (hello), Спасибо (thank you), Пожалуйста (please / you're welcome), Извините (excuse me), Да / Нет (yes / no), Сколько это стоит? (how much is it?) and Помогите! (help!).