Щ щ — shcha
«shcha» is a consonant of the Russian script, read as “a long soft sh”. One long soft sh, stretched over half a syllable, with the middle of the tongue raised — not "shch". For example, in the word “борщ” — borscht. The Russian alphabet has 33 letters in total. Transliterations write shch, but you hear one long soft sh: borshch ends with it. It appears, for example, in the word “ещё один” — one more.
In short
| Character | Щ щ |
| Name | shcha |
| Sound | a long soft sh |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 27th of 33, its neighbours in the course are ш and ъ, appears in 88 words of this site.
How to type Щ щ
- 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+0449 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 0449.
- Unicode code points: щ — U+0449, Щ — U+0429. With them, the characters can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
One long soft sh, stretched over half a syllable, with the middle of the tongue raised — not "shch"
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.
- борщborscht
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
- ещё одинeshchyo odinone more
- женщинаzhenshchinawoman
- скорая помощьskoraya pomoshchambulance
- в следующем месяцеv sleduyushchem mesyatsenext month
- объясните ещё разobyasnite eshchyo razexplain it once more
- вещиveshchithings, belongings
- собирать вещиsobirat veshchito pack (gather things)
- пещераpeshcheracave
- обещатьobeshchatto promise
- сообщениеsoobshcheniemessage
- писать сообщениеpisat soobshchenieto write a message
- голосовое сообщениеgolosovoe soobshchenievoice message
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 «shcha» it is “a long soft sh”, as in the word “борщ”), 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 щ read?
As “a long soft sh” — it is a consonant of the Russian script. One long soft sh, stretched over half a syllable, with the middle of the tongue raised — not "shch". For example, in the word “борщ” — borscht.
What is the letter щ called?
Shcha. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Russian script: it is called “shcha” and reads as “a long soft sh”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.