The full Ukrainian alphabet on the standard layout, including the four letters Russian keyboards lack.
Ukrainian 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 | Shift+G H B D S N | |
| Thank you | Shift+L Z R E . | |
| Ukraine | Shift+E R H F ] Y F | |
| Meat | Shift+V ` Z C J | |
| Please | Shift+, E L M Space K F C R F |
Which key types which Ukrainian letter
Every key on an English (US) keyboard and what it types on this ukrainian keyboard. The same table is printed on the caps above, in the corner of each key.
| Your key | Types | With Shift |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| ] | ї | Ї |
| \ | ґ | Ґ |
| A | ф | Ф |
| S | і | І |
| D | в | В |
| F | а | А |
| G | п | П |
| H | р | Р |
| J | о | О |
| K | л | Л |
| L | д | Д |
| ; | ж | Ж |
| ' | є | Є |
| 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 |
Ukrainian letters that Russian keyboards lack
Ukrainian is written in Cyrillic with 33 letters, but it is not the same set as Russian. It has four letters Russian does not use, and it does without four that Russian has (ё, ъ, ы, э). That is why a Russian keyboard is the wrong tool for Ukrainian: the keys for і, ї, є and ґ are simply not there.
| Letter | Sound | Example | Key here |
|---|---|---|---|
| і | ee, as in "see" | місто (city) | S |
| ї | yee | Україна, їжа | ] |
| є | ye | є (is), моє | ' |
| ґ | hard g, as in "go" | ґанок (porch) | \ |
г, ґ and и
Ukrainian г is not a g. It is a voiced h sound, so the country's name for itself, Україна, sits beside words like гора (mountain), said with an h. The hard g sound has its own letter, ґ, which is rarer and is used mostly in loanwords and a set of native words. ґ was removed from the official alphabet in 1933 and restored in 1990, which is why older keyboards and fonts sometimes lack it.
Ukrainian и is also not the Russian и. It is a short sound between the i in "bit" and the y in Russian ы, while the ee sound is written і. Getting и and і right is the most common difference between correct Ukrainian and Russian-influenced spelling.
The apostrophe
Ukrainian uses an apostrophe where Russian uses the hard sign ъ, to separate a consonant from a following я, ю, є or ї: м'ясо (meat), п'ять (five), сім'я (family). It is part of the spelling, not punctuation. On the Ukrainian layout it has its own key, to the left of 1, and that is where it is on this keyboard too. The correct character is the typographic apostrophe ʼ (U+02BC), but the plain ' is almost universal online and is what most Ukrainian keyboards type.
Setting up Ukrainian on your own device
- Windows: add Ukrainian under Language and region and choose "Ukrainian (Enhanced)", the layout this page follows, which puts ґ on its own key. Switch with Win+Space.
- Mac: System Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources, add Ukrainian. There is also a "Ukrainian - QWERTY" option that works phonetically.
- Phone: add Ukrainian in Gboard or the iPhone keyboard settings. Both include і, ї, є and ґ on the main keyboard.