Transliteration of Ukrainian
A correspondence table between the Ukrainian script and Latin letters: 33 letters, with names and sounds. The rendering is practical — it exists so you can read aloud and be understood, not to meet a scholarly standard.
Ukrainian character → Latin
| Character | Name | In Latin | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| А а | a | a as in "father" | A pure open a, steady as in "father"; unstressed it never fades to "uh" |
| Б б | be | b as in "book" | An ordinary b |
| В в | ve | v as in "van" | An ordinary v |
| Г г | he | a breathy h, as in "a-ha" | A breathy, humming h — the h of a satisfied "a-ha", voiced and gargled in the throat, never a hard g |
| Ґ ґ | ge | hard g as in "go" | An ordinary hard g as in "go" — but you will meet it rarely |
| Д д | de | d as in "door" | An ordinary d |
| Е е | e | e as in "bet" | Always a plain e as in "bet": nemaie reads "ne-ma-ye", never "nye-ma-ye" |
| Є є | ye | ye as in "yet" | A y-glide plus e in one letter: more reads "mo-rye" — the ending is this letter |
| Ж ж | zhe | zh as in "measure" | As the s of "measure" or the z of "azure" |
| З з | ze | z as in "zoo" | An ordinary z, never the zz of "pizza" is missing here — always z |
| И и | y | i as in "big", tense | An i pulled back and tensed — say the i of "big" with your tongue a touch further back: ty sounds like "tih", not "tee" |
| І і | i | ee as in "see" | A pure ee as in "see": ni reads "nee" — no |
| Ї ї | yi | yee, as in "yield" | A y-glide plus the pure ee, packed into one letter: yisty — to eat |
| Й й | yot | y as in "yes" | An ordinary y as in "yes", the glide on its own |
| К к | ka | k as in "kite" | An ordinary k |
| Л л | el | l as in "lamp" | A plain l as in "lamp" |
| М м | em | m as in "map" | An ordinary m |
| Н н | en | n as in "no" | An ordinary n |
| О о | o | o as in "more", pure | A round o wherever it stands: unstressed ona does not slip into "uh-na" — keep the o |
| П п | pe | p as in "pen" | An ordinary p |
| Р р | er | a tapped r | One tap of the tongue, like the tt of an American "butter" — never the English r curled in the mouth |
| С с | es | s as in "sun" | Always the s of "sun", never z |
| Т т | te | t as in "top" | An ordinary t |
| У у | u | oo as in "food" | A pure oo as in "food", without a glide |
| Ф ф | ef | f as in "fun" | An ordinary f; native words with it are few — most are loans like film |
| Х х | kha | a breathy kh as in "Bach" | The throaty ch of "Bach" or "Loch Ness" — a raspy h, stronger than the breathy h-letter |
| Ц ц | tse | ts as in "cats" | The ts of "cats" in one sound |
| Ч ч | che | ch as in "church" | An ordinary ch as in "church" |
| Ш ш | sha | sh as in "ship" | An ordinary sh as in "ship" |
| Щ щ | shcha | shch as in "fresh cheese" | Two sounds in one letter, sh right into ch: borshch — the soup — is spelled with it and says its name |
| Ь ь | soft sign | no sound of its own | The soft sign: it has no sound but softens — palatalizes — the consonant in front of it |
| Ю ю | yu | yoo as in "you" | A y-glide plus oo in one letter, as the "you" of English |
| Я я | ya | ya as in "yard" | A y-glide plus a in one letter, as in "yard" |
How practical transliteration differs from the scholarly kind
Any script has several Latin renderings, and they solve different problems. The scholarly one (ISO, GOST) is reversible: the original spelling can be restored character for character — which is why it is full of marks that are not on any keyboard and that nobody ever reads aloud correctly.
The practical one solves the reverse problem: a person reads it aloud and is understood. That is what the table above uses, and that is what our courses use.
What to watch out for
Letters English never gave you. The heart of the alphabet lesson. The pair y and i looks almost identical but sounds different — one is a pulled-back i, the other a pure ee — and mixing them up mixes up "you" and "no". Add ye and yi, two letters that pack a y-glide plus a vowel into one sign.
Two familiar shapes that lie. The letters are letters you know; the sounds are not. The h-looking letter is a breathy voiced sound with no English twin, while the hard g of "go" hides behind a rare letter of its own. And the shch letter is always two sounds: sh plus ch.
Read them the way they look. Twenty-six letters an English eye decodes within minutes of learning the Cyrillic shapes. Only two habits to pick up: e is always a plain e as in "bet", never "ye", and every o stays a round o — it never fades to "uh" when unstressed.
Frequently asked
How to write Ukrainian text in Latin letters?
Using the table above, character by character. The practical rendering records sound, not spelling, so the original text cannot always be restored from it backwards.
Why do transliterations differ across sources?
Because they solve different problems: the scholarly one is reversible and precise, the practical one is readable, the passport one is fixed by the country's rules. They are not required to agree.