Reading Cyrillic road signs

Road signs in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Mongolia are written in Cyrillic. Learn about thirty letters and names like Самара (Samara) or Воронеж (Voronezh) read themselves.

That pays off in GeoGuessr: a town on a sign tells you where you are, and Ukrainian and Kazakh signs give themselves away by a few letters Russian does not have.

Cyrillic at a glance

Cyrillic is the alphabet of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia.

Like ours, it is read left to right, and each letter stands for one sound. A good third of the letters you can almost read already.

Letters you already know

These look like their Latin twins and sound like them too.

• А аa
• Е еe
• К кk
• М мm
• О оo
• Т тt

False friends

These look Latin but are read differently.

• В вv
• Н нn
• Р рr
• С сs
• У уu
• Х хkh

New shapes

Most of these have a Greek ancestor: Г is gamma, Д delta, Л lambda, П pi, Ф phi.

• Б бb
• Г гg
• Д дd
• З зz
• И иi
• Л лl
• П пp
• Ф фf

One letter, two in English

Sounds that English spells with two letters have a letter of their own.

• Ж жzh
• Ц цts
• Ч чch
• Ш шsh
• Щ щshch

Vowels with a y

Four vowels start with a y sound. Й is a short y after a vowel, and Ы is a dull ‘i’, written y.

• Я яya
• Ю юyu
• Ё ёyo
• Й йy
• Ы ыy
• Э эe

Letters with no sound

Ь and Ъ are not read on their own; they only soften or separate the letter before them. In English names they simply disappear.

• Ь ь–
• Ъ ъ–

Ukrainian and the others

Ukrainian adds І, Ї and Є, and reads some letters differently: Г is h and И is y.

Kazakh, Mongolian, Serbian and Belarusian have a few letters more. All of them are in the list below.

• І іi
• Ї їyi
• Є єye
• Г гh
• И иy

Name parts worth knowing

Some pieces come back again and again. Spot them and half the name is read.

Answers are listed by their English names, which now and then differ from the reading: Москва reads Moskva but is listed as Moscow. When you type, either one counts.

Try it

Which city is on the sign?

All the letters

Alphabet

• Ааa
• Ббb
• Ввv
• Ггg
• Ддd
• Ееe
• Ёёyo
• Жжzh
• Ззz
• Ииi
• Ййy
• Ккk
• Ллl
• Ммm
• Ннn
• Ооo
• Ппp
• Ррr
• Ссs
• Ттt
• Ууu
• Ффf
• Ххkh
• Ццts
• Ччch
• Шшsh
• Щщshch
• Ъъ–
• Ыыy
• Ьь–
• Ээe
• Ююyu
• Яяya

Letters of other languages

• Ґґg
• Єєye
• Ііi
• Їїyi
• Ўўw
• Ђђđ
• Јјj
• Љљlj
• Њњnj
• Ћћć
• Џџdž
• Ѓѓǵ
• Ѕѕdz
• Ќќḱ
• Әәä
• Ғғgh
• Ққq
• Ңңng
• Өөö
• Ұұu
• Үүü
• Һһh
• Ӣӣī
• Ӯӯū
• Ҳҳh
• Ҷҷj

Read differently

• Ukrainian: г → h, и → y
• Belarusian: г → h
• Bulgarian: х → h, щ → sht, ъ → a, ь → y
• Serbian, Montenegrin, Macedonian: ж → ž, х → h, ц → c, ч → č, ш → š
• Kyrgyz: ж → j
• Tajik: ъ → ʼ
• Mongolian: е → ye, ж → j, й → i

ъ and ь have no sound of their own.

The 200 places in the quiz

The quiz has the 200 largest cities of the countries that write in Cyrillic, each shown in its local official language.