Ю ю — yu
«yu» is a vowel of the Russian script, read as “yoo as in "you"”. A y and oo in one letter, like the word "you". After a consonant it softens it, and you hear just the oo. For example, in the word “юг” — south. The Russian alphabet has 33 letters in total. Sits in the same family as the other iotated letters: before it a consonant goes soft. It appears, for example, in the word “я не понимаю” — I do not understand.
In short
| Character | Ю ю |
| Name | yu |
| Sound | yoo as in "you" |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 32nd of 33, its neighbours in the course are э and я, appears in 129 words of this site.
How to type Ю ю
- 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+044E 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 044E.
- Unicode code points: ю — U+044E, Ю — U+042E. With them, the characters can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
A y and oo in one letter, like the word "you". After a consonant it softens it, and you hear just the oo
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.
- югsouth
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
- я не понимаюya ne ponimayuI do not understand
- я люблюya lyublyuI love
- юношаyunoshayoung man (bookish)
- ключklyuchkey
- вызовите полициюvyzovite politsiyucall the police
- июльiyulJuly
- в следующем месяцеv sleduyushchem mesyatsenext month
- я опаздываюya opazdyvayuI am running late
- я работаю удалённоya rabotayu udalyonnoI work remotely
- не знаюne znayuI do not know
- рюкзакryukzakbackpack
- ключ от номераklyuch ot nomeraroom key
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 «yu» it is “yoo as in "you"”, as in the word “юг”), 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 ю read?
As “yoo as in "you"” — it is a vowel of the Russian script. A y and oo in one letter, like the word "you". After a consonant it softens it, and you hear just the oo. For example, in the word “юг” — south.
What is the letter ю called?
Yu. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Russian script: it is called “yu” and reads as “yoo as in "you"”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.