Five letters English does not have — and the ones that lie
Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic script, and most letters are honest once you learn them. But a handful will trip an English reader, so start here. For example: “ти” — you (sounds like "tu" with a tense i). A rule from the Ukrainian course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic script, and most letters are honest once you learn them. But a handful will trip an English reader, so start here.
i is a tense "i" like the vowel in "bit" stretched ("ty" — you). ii is a plain "ee" sound ("mi" — we). yi is one syllable "yi": yisty — to eat. ye is "ye": ye alone means "there is". g with an upstroke is a hard "g" as in "go": gudzyk — a button.
The trap is the plain h-letter: it is not "g" at all. It is a breathy, throaty "h", like the "h" in "a-ha". So hroshi (money) starts with "h". The hard "g" sound exists too — that is the rare upstroke-g.
Finally, the apostrophe (ʼ) is not a letter. It just splits a consonant from a soft vowel: pyat, simya, myaso.
By example
- тиyou (sounds like "tu" with a tense i)
- ніno (sounds like "ni")
- грошіmoney (starts with a throaty h: hroshi)
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How is Ukrainian h different from g?
Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic script, and most letters are honest once you learn them. But a handful will trip an English reader, so start here.
What does it look like in an example sentence Ukrainian?
“ти” — you (sounds like "tu" with a tense i). A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.