Е е — ye
«ye» is a vowel of the Russian script, read as “e as in "bet", or ye as in "yet"”. At the start of a word and after a vowel it is ye as in "yes": yest means "there is". After a consonant it is plain e as in "bet", and the consonant softens. For example, in the word “нет” — no. The Russian alphabet has 33 letters in total. The Latin E half lies here: this letter knows how to start with a y-sound. It appears, for example, in the word “привет” — hi.
In short
| Character | Е е |
| Name | ye |
| Sound | e as in "bet", or ye as in "yet" |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 6th of 33, its neighbours in the course are д and ё, appears in roughly every other word on this site.
How to type Е е
- On a phone: add the Russian keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0435 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0435.
- Unicode code points: е — U+0435, Е — U+0415. With them, the characters can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
At the start of a word and after a vowel it is ye as in "yes": yest means "there is". After a consonant it is plain e as in "bet", and the consonant softens
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- нетno
The character in the “twenty new letters” group
Clean learning material, best taken in pairs: б against п, д against т, ж against ш — voiced against voiceless, same mouth shape.
The iotated е, ё, ю, я write y plus a vowel in one sign, and after a consonant they soften it.
Words with this character
- приветprivethi
- добрый деньdobryy dengood afternoon
- доброе утроdobroe utrogood morning
- нетnetno
- как дела?kak dela?how are you?
- меня зовутmenya zovutmy name is
- как тебя зовут?kak tebya zovut?what is your name?
- очень приятноochen priyatnonice to meet you
- я не понимаюya ne ponimayuI do not understand
- повторите, пожалуйстаpovtorite, pozhaluystarepeat, please
- медленнееmedlenneeslower
- вы говорите по-английски?vy govorite po-angliyski?do you speak English?
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ye» it is “e as in "bet", or ye as in "yet"”, as in the word “нет”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 33 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Russian character е read?
As “e as in "bet", or ye as in "yet"” — it is a vowel of the Russian script. At the start of a word and after a vowel it is ye as in "yes": yest means "there is". After a consonant it is plain e as in "bet", and the consonant softens. For example, in the word “нет” — no.
What is the letter е called?
Ye. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Russian script: it is called “ye” and reads as “e as in "bet", or ye as in "yet"”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.