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The Ukrainian Alphabet

і, ї, є, ґ, г=h, the apostrophe

A Cyrillic alphabet with its own letters

і, ї, є, ґ — and no ё, ы, э, ъ.

📊 Distinctive letters
Letter Sound Note
і ee like English 'ee'
и y (as in 'bit') back, harder vowel
ї yi і with two dots
є ye
ґ hard g rare
' separates apostrophe (hard-sign role)
💬 Examples
привіт
pryvit
hi
📝 і = 'ee'; и is a different sound
дякую
dyakuyu
thank you
📝 ю = 'yu', я = 'ya'
Ukrainian г is an 'h' sound (ґ is hard 'g')

A key feature, unlike Russian.

💬 Examples
гарний
harnyy
nice / beautiful
📝 г = 'h' (not 'g')
ґудзик
gudzyk
button
📝 ґ = hard 'g' (rare)
The apostrophe marks a hard separation

Before я, ю, є, ї.

💬 Examples
п'ять
pyat'
five
📝 апостроф keeps п and я separate
ім'я
imya
name
📝 Apostrophe before я