П Е Д Ь Ц — learn these and you can read the most common Russian street signs you'll spot in GeoGuessr.
Your alphabet so far
Letters you already know (lessons 1–4):
А К М О Т — В Н Р С У Х — И Я Л Б Г
Today you add 5 more: П Е Д Ь Ц
The five letters
Пп
= "p"
Like p in German Peter.
Shape: two vertical legs with a flat bar on top — like the Greek Π (Pi). Not a gate, just a П. Examples: ПАРК (park)
ПАСТОР (pastor)
Ее
= "ye" (or softens the previous consonant)
Fundamentally a ye sound — like je in German jeder. Word-start or after a vowel: the "ye" is clear — ЕВА = "YE-va". After a consonant: Е palatalizes (softens) the consonant before it — the "y" glide merges into the consonant instead of standing on its own. So М + Е produces "mye" where the М carries the "y" coloring. To your ear it may sound like plain "e", but the "ye" nature is still there as softness on the consonant.
That's why МЕТРО is romanized "myet-RO" (not "mye-et-RO") — the "y" lives inside the soft М, not as a separate syllable.
Shape: looks just like a Latin E, but sounds "ye" (not "ee").
Дд
= "d"
Like d in German Danke.
Shape: two small feet sticking out at the bottom, a bit like the Greek Δ (delta) or a small house. The legs give it away. Examples: ДА (yes)
ДОМ (house)
Ьь
= soft sign (silent)
No sound of its own. It softens the consonant before it — like adding a tiny "y" glide.
Shape: looks like b without the upper bump. On signs you mostly just skip it when sounding out. Examples: ПЕДАЛЬ (pedal)
МЕДАЛЬ (medal)
Цц
= "ts"
Sounds like z in German Zeit or zehn — that "ts" sound.
Shape: like У with a small foot dangling from the bottom right — look for the little tail. Examples: УЛИЦА (street)
ЦЕНТР (center)
Ц trap: Don't confuse Ц (two sounds: "ts") with Г (one sound: "g") or У. The tell is the small foot hanging below the bottom-right of the letter. If it has a tail at the bottom right — it's Ц.
Street vocabulary unlocked
With your 21 letters, you can now decode the most common Russian address words. These appear on every street sign, map, and GeoGuessr location.
УЛИЦА
U-li-tsa
Street — the most common word on Russian signs
У–Л–И–Ц–А
МЕТРО
myet-RO
Metro / subway station entrance
М–Е–Т–Р–О
ЦЕНТР
TSENTR
City center — on direction signs everywhere
Ц–Е–Н–Т–Р
ПР О СПЕКТ
pro-SPYEKT
Avenue / Prospect — wide main boulevard
П–Р–О–С–П–Е–К–Т
ПЕРЕУЛОК
pe-re-U-lok
Lane / alley — smaller side street
П–Е–Р–Е–У–Л–О–К
СТАНЦИЯ
STAN-tsi-ya
Station — train, metro, or bus station
С–Т–А–Н–Ц–И–Я
Yellow letters = new from today. White = letters you already knew.
Coming soon: ПЛОЩАДЬ (square) — you know almost all of it already: П–Л–О–Щ–А–Д–Ь. Just Щ ("shch") is still ahead.
Quiz — read the sign
A sign word appears. Read it, then answer the question. Click 🔊 to hear it spoken.
Word reading — sound it out
All 21 letters you know are in play. Sound out each word before revealing. Space to reveal, 1/2/3 to score.
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