SPELLING RULES in Russian Правила орфографии в русском языке

There are only 5 vowels in Russian A E I O U But they are spelled with twice as many vowel letters: А/Я Э/Е Ы/И О/Ё У/Ю

Consonants, on the other hand, work the other way around: Consonants are paired hard and soft, though there is only one letter for both: B/B’ V/V’ L/L’ S/S’ etc. The vowel letter (or soft sign) following tells you whether the consonant is hard or soft: bit / b’it are spelled with the same б: быт / бит

So words that have different consonants are spelled with different vowels and ь mat mat’ m’at m’at’ (all with the same a, but 4 consonants) мат мать мят мять (spelled with the same м and т)

There are many minimal pairs that show hard vs. soft changes meaning: полка = shelf полька = Polish girl, dance готов = ready (m. adjective) готовь = prepare! (imperative 2nd sg.)

A few consonants are not paired, but always hard or always soft Ш Ч Ж Щ Ц Й

Hard or Soft? Always HARD Ш Ч Ж Щ Ц Й Always SOFT Ч Щ Й

Because they’re not paired, you can’t choose vowels based on hard vs soft Instead we use spelling rules to decide which vowel letter to spell after them After ш щ ж ч ц never ю or я, instead у and а After ш щ ж ч ц never unstressed о, instead е After ш щ ж ч never ы, instead и

э/е doesn’t appear in the spelling rules, since э never appears except at the beginning of a word and remember that both ы and и can appear after ц: отцы, цыган цирк, цивилизация

Also remember that whatever vowel letter may be written, for these consonants hard remains hard and soft remains soft! карандаши шёлк цирк церковь гаражи жемчуг час чувство плаща щука

К Г Х also have special spelling rules for historical reasons after к г х never ю, я, ы but instead у, а, и

Foreign words in Russian sometimes break the rules парашют жюри шоколад Кыргызстан (Киргизская ССР) Кяхта Цюрих