Sooner or later someone will ask you to spell your name on the phone, or you'll need to read out an email address or a surname letter by letter — and for that you need the names of the letters, not just their sounds. Just as English speakers say "bee, see, dee" (not the sounds /b/, /k/, /d/), Ukrainians have a fixed set of letter names: бе, ве, ге, ґе, де… These names are different from anything in English, and getting them is the difference between spelling Іва́н as "і-ве-а-ен" (correct) and floundering. This page teaches the name of every one of the 33 letters and shows you how to spell a word aloud, по лі́терах ("letter by letter").
How the names are built
There are three patterns, and once you see them the whole set is easy.
- Vowels are named by their own sound. The letter а is simply called "а," е is "е," and so on for all ten vowels (а, е, и, і, о, у, я, є, ю, ї). Nothing extra.
- Most consonants add a vowel. Plosives and a few others put е after the consonant: бе, ве, ге, ґе, де, же, зе, пе, те, це, че. A handful instead put a vowel before: ел, ем, ен, ер, ес, еф. And ка, ха, ша, ща end in -а.
- The two special signs have full descriptive names. The soft sign ь is м’яки́й знак ("soft sign"), and the apostrophe ’ is апостро́ф.
The full table of letter names
| Letter | Name (say this) | Type |
|---|---|---|
| А а | а | vowel = its sound |
| Б б | бе | consonant + е |
| В в | ве | consonant + е |
| Г г | ге | consonant + е |
| Ґ ґ | ґе | consonant + е (distinct from ге!) |
| Д д | де | consonant + е |
| Е е | е | vowel = its sound |
| Є є | є | vowel = its sound (/je/) |
| Ж ж | же | consonant + е |
| З з | зе | consonant + е |
| И и | и | vowel = its sound |
| І і | і | vowel = its sound |
| Ї ї | ї | vowel = its sound (/ji/) |
| Й й | йот (also ій / і коро́тке) | semivowel |
| К к | ка | consonant + а |
| Л л | ел | е + consonant |
| М м | ем | е + consonant |
| Н н | ен | е + consonant |
| О о | о | vowel = its sound |
| П п | пе | consonant + е |
| Р р | ер | е + consonant |
| С с | ес | е + consonant |
| Т т | те | consonant + е |
| У у | у | vowel = its sound |
| Ф ф | еф | е + consonant |
| Х х | ха | consonant + а (not "ікс"!) |
| Ц ц | це | consonant + е |
| Ч ч | че | consonant + е |
| Ш ш | ша | consonant + а |
| Щ щ | ща | consonant + а |
| Ь ь | м’яки́й знак (or знак м’я́кшення) | soft sign |
| Ю ю | ю | vowel = its sound (/ju/) |
| Я я | я | vowel = its sound (/ja/) |
A few names worth flagging. Х is ха — never "ікс" (that English habit comes from the Latin letter X, which looks identical but is a different thing). Й has more than one name: the technical йот (from "jot"), and the descriptive і коро́тке ("short и") or ій; йот is the most common when spelling. The soft sign ь is м’яки́й знак in everyday use; the 2019 orthography also calls it знак м’я́кшення ("softening sign"). The apostrophe ’ is named апостро́ф.
Spelling a word aloud: по лі́терах
To spell something out, you read the letter names one after another. The set phrase for "letter by letter" is по лі́терах (or по бу́квах). On the phone you'll hear Як пи́шеться? Продиктуйте по лі́терах, будь ла́ска ("How's it spelled? Spell it out, please").
| Word | Spelled aloud |
|---|---|
| Іва́н | і — ве — а — ен |
| Окса́на | о — ка — ес — а — ен — а |
| день | де — е — ен — м’яки́й знак |
| сім’я́ | ес — і — ем — апостро́ф — я |
| Ґава | ґе — а — ве — а |
— Як ва́ше прі́звище? — Шевче́нко. — Продиктуйте по лі́терах, будь ла́ска.
'What's your surname?' 'Shevchenko.' 'Spell it out, please.' (по лі́терах = letter by letter — the set request.)
Іва́н пи́шеться так: і, ве, а, ен.
Ivan is spelled like this: i, ve, a, en. (spelling a name with the letter names, not the English 'eye-vee-ay-en'.)
У сло́ві «день» в кінці́ — м’яки́й знак.
In the word 'den' (day) there's a soft sign at the end. (calling out ь by its name м’яки́й знак while spelling.)
Моя́ адре́са електро́нної по́шти почина́ється так: о, ел, е, по́тім собачка, по́тім кра́пка.
My email starts like this: o, l, e, then the 'at' sign, then a dot. (spelling an email aloud; собачка is the everyday name for @, кра́пка is the dot.)
Як пи́шеться ва́ше ім’я́ — че́рез і чи че́рез и?
How's your name spelled — with і or with и? (a real disambiguation question, since і and и are different letters that sound similar to learners.)
A useful detail: the @ and . of email
Spelling a modern email or web address aloud, you'll need a couple of symbols that aren't letters: @ is colloquially собачка ("little dog") or formally ет, and . (a full stop / dot) is кра́пка. So ola.k@gmail.com is read "о-ел-а, кра́пка, ка, собачка, gmail, кра́пка, com."
Source-language comparison
For an English speaker, the whole point is that the letter names are not the English ones. The shape В is named "ве," not "vee"; Х is "ха," not "x"; Р is "ер," not "ar" — and several letters that look Latin (В, Н, Р, С, Х) have completely different names. You cannot spell a Ukrainian word using English letter names — you'd be naming the wrong letters entirely. Two symbols English doesn't even name as letters get full names here: the soft sign (м’яки́й знак) and the apostrophe (апостро́ф), both of which you must call out when spelling.
For a Russian speaker, most names line up, but mind the Ukrainian-specific ones: ґе (the distinct ґ), ї (named by its sound /ji/), є, and йот / і коро́тке for й. And the soft sign is м’яки́й знак, not "мягкий знак."
Common Mistakes
❌ Spelling Х as ‘ікс’.
Incorrect — Х is named ха, not ‘ікс’; the Latin look-alike X is a different letter. Say: ха.
✅ Х — це ха.
Х is 'ha'. — the correct Ukrainian name.
❌ Spelling ‘ве’ as ‘vee’ / В as the English name.
Incorrect — Ukrainian letters take Ukrainian names; В is ве, not ‘vee’. Іва́н = і-ве-а-ен.
✅ В — це ве.
В is 've'. — say the Ukrainian name when spelling.
❌ Skipping the soft sign when spelling день aloud.
Incorrect — you must name every symbol; the ь is read as м’яки́й знак: де-е-ен-м’яки́й знак.
✅ день — де, е, ен, м’яки́й знак.
'den' — de, e, en, soft sign. — the ь is spelled out by name.
❌ Calling ґ and г by the same name.
Incorrect — г is ге and ґ is ґе; they are distinct letters with distinct names.
✅ г — ге, ґ — ґе.
г is 'he', ґ is 'ge'. — two different names for two different letters.
Key Takeaways
- Vowels are named by their own sound (а, е, и, і, о, у, я, є, ю, ї); consonants are бе, ве, ге, ґе, де, же, зе, ка, ел, ем, ен, пе, ер, ес, те, еф, ха, це, че, ша, ща; й is йот (or і коро́тке).
- Х is "ха," not "ікс"; В is "ве," not "vee" — the names are not the English ones.
- г = ге and ґ = ґе are distinct names for distinct letters.
- The soft sign ь is м’яки́й знак, the apostrophe ’ is апостро́ф — and you call them out when spelling.
- To spell a word aloud, read the letter names in order: по лі́терах (Іва́н = і-ве-а-ен).
Now practice Ukrainian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Ukrainian→Related Topics
- The Ukrainian AlphabetA1 — All 33 letters of the modern Ukrainian Cyrillic alphabet — their printed forms, names, and approximate sounds — sorted into the familiar friends, the dangerous false friends that look Latin but aren't, and the brand-new shapes, plus the four letters (і ї є ґ) that mark Ukrainian apart from Russian at a glance.
- The Soft Sign ЬA1 — The soft sign ь (м’який знак) spells no sound of its own — it marks that the preceding consonant is soft (palatalized). It appears word-finally and before consonants, only after д т з с ц л н дз, never after a vowel or at the start of a word, and it is the exact opposite of the apostrophe.
- The Apostrophe (Апостроф)A1 — The Ukrainian apostrophe ’ is a full orthographic sign, not punctuation: it marks that a hard consonant is followed by an iotated vowel (я ю є ї) pronounced with a clear /j/ glide — blocking the softening that would otherwise happen. It is written after the labials б п в м ф and after р, and after consonant-final prefixes.
- І, И, and Ї: The Three i-SoundsA1 — The trio і / и / ї is the feature English learners — and Russian-trained learners especially — get wrong most: і = /i/ (a clear 'ee' that softens the consonant before it), и = /ɪ/ (the hard central 'bit' vowel that does not soften), and ї = /ji/ (always iotated, never after a consonant).
- Г vs Ґ: The Two g-LettersA2 — Why Ukrainian has two g-letters — the breathy г (/ɦ/) of the everyday vocabulary versus the hard plosive ґ (/g/) of a small, learnable word list — plus the Soviet ban that explains why older texts drop ґ entirely.
- Classroom and Learning PhrasesA1 — The phrases you need to survive a Ukrainian lesson — Як це сказа́ти украї́нською? 'how do you say this in Ukrainian?', Що означа́є…? 'what does it mean?', Повторі́ть, будь ла́ска 'please repeat', Я не розумі́ю, Як це пи́шеться? — and the grammar hiding in them: 'in Ukrainian' is the bare INSTRUMENTAL украї́нською, 'how is it spelled?' uses the -ся passive, and these are the single most useful phrases a beginner can learn.