Type Russian by sound on your own keyboard, or tap the real ЙЦУКЕН layout.
Russian words to try
Tap a word to put it in the box above, or type it yourself with the keys shown.
| Word | Meaning | Keys |
|---|---|---|
| Hi | Privet | |
| Thank you | Spasibo | |
| How are you? | Kak dela? | |
| Good | Horosho | |
| I love you | Ya tebya lyublyu |
Which key types which Russian letter
Every key on an English (US) keyboard and what it types on this russian keyboard. The same table is printed on the caps above, in the corner of each key.
| Your key | Types | With Shift |
|---|---|---|
| ` | ё | Ё |
| Q | й | Й |
| W | ц | Ц |
| E | у | У |
| R | к | К |
| T | е | Е |
| Y | н | Н |
| U | г | Г |
| I | ш | Ш |
| O | щ | Щ |
| P | з | З |
| [ | х | Х |
| ] | ъ | Ъ |
| A | ф | Ф |
| S | ы | Ы |
| D | в | В |
| F | а | А |
| G | п | П |
| H | р | Р |
| J | о | О |
| K | л | Л |
| L | д | Д |
| ; | ж | Ж |
| ' | э | Э |
| Z | я | Я |
| X | ч | Ч |
| C | с | С |
| V | м | М |
| B | и | И |
| N | т | Т |
| M | ь | Ь |
| , | б | Б |
| . | ю | Ю |
Two ways to type Russian here
Phonetic typing is on by default. You type on your own keyboard by sound and each Latin letter turns into the Cyrillic letter that sounds like it: privet becomes привет, spasibo becomes спасибо. It is the fastest way to type Russian if you have never learned the Russian layout, and it is how most learners start.
The standard layout is what Russian speakers use. Untick Phonetic and every key types the letter printed on the matching key of a Russian keyboard, which is also the letter on each cap above: Q is й, A is ф, F is а. It looks random at first but it is designed around letter frequency, with о, е, а, н, т and и under your strongest fingers. If you will type Russian for more than a few weeks, it is worth learning, and the on-screen keys show it the whole time.
The on-screen keys always follow the standard layout, whichever mode you use for your physical keyboard.
The phonetic scheme
Most letters are a single Latin key. The multi-letter ones work as you type: s gives с, and the h that follows turns it into ш.
| Russian | Type | Russian | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| а б в г д | a b v g d | р с т у ф | r s t u f |
| е ё | e, yo or jo | х | h, kh or x |
| ж | zh | ц | c |
| з и й | z i j | ч | ch |
| к л м н о п | k l m n o p | ш щ | sh, shch or w |
| ъ | # or '' | ы | y |
| ь | ' | э | e' |
| ю | yu or ju | я | ya or ja |
To type сх, as in схема, use x for х: sxema. Otherwise sh would become ш.
The Russian alphabet
Russian has 33 letters. Six look and sound roughly like their English twins (а, е, к, м, о, т). Several are false friends that look Latin but are not: в is a v, н is an n, р is an r, с is an s, у is an oo sound and х is a throaty h, like the ch in Scottish loch. The rest are new shapes.
Two letters have no sound of their own. The soft sign ь softens the consonant before it, as in мать (mother). The hard sign ъ separates a consonant from a following vowel, as in объект. The letter ё is always stressed and is pronounced yo, but in everyday print Russians usually write е instead and readers fill in the dots. Both are correct, and ё has its own key to the left of 1.
Setting up Russian on your own device
- Windows: Settings, Time and language, Language and region, Add a language, Russian. Switch layouts with Win+Space. Microsoft also offers a "Russian - Mnemonic" layout that works phonetically, much like this page.
- Mac: System Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources, add Russian, or "Russian - Phonetic" for a sound-based layout. Switch with Ctrl+Space.
- Phone: add Russian in your keyboard settings (Gboard or the iPhone keyboard) and switch with the globe key.
- Stickers: transparent Cyrillic keyboard stickers are cheap and make the standard layout easy to learn on a physical keyboard.