Ы ы — y
«y» is a vowel of the Russian script, read as “i pulled back, no English twin”. Like the i of "bit" but with the tongue pulled far back: no English vowel sits there. Say "ee" and slide the tongue back until the sound darkens. For example, in the word “сыр” — cheese. The Russian alphabet has 33 letters in total. Rarely starts a word — it lives inside: syr (cheese), ty (you). It appears, for example, in the word “добрый день” — good afternoon.
In short
| Character | Ы ы |
| Name | y |
| Sound | i pulled back, no English twin |
| What it is | a vowel |
In our course the character comes 29th of 33, its neighbours in the course are ъ and ь, appears in 642 words of this site.
How to type Ы ы
- 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+044B 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 044B.
- Unicode code points: ы — U+044B, Ы — U+042B. With them, the characters can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
Like the i of "bit" but with the tongue pulled far back: no English vowel sits there. Say "ee" and slide the tongue back until the sound darkens
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.
- сырcheese
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
- добрый деньdobryy dengood afternoon
- тыtyyou (informal)
- выvyyou (formal or plural)
- мыmywe
- откуда ты?otkuda ty?where are you from?
- я из Москвыya iz MoskvyI am from Moscow
- вы говорите по-английски?vy govorite po-angliyski?do you speak English?
- добрый вечерdobryy vechergood evening
- четыреchetyrefour
- сырsyrcheese
- рыбаrybafish
- бытьbytto be
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 «y» it is “i pulled back, no English twin”, as in the word “сыр”), 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 ы read?
As “i pulled back, no English twin” — it is a vowel of the Russian script. Like the i of "bit" but with the tongue pulled far back: no English vowel sits there. Say "ee" and slide the tongue back until the sound darkens. For example, in the word “сыр” — cheese.
What is the letter ы called?
Y. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Russian script: it is called “y” and reads as “i pulled back, no English twin”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.