🅾️ The letter О: stressed or not?
дом · молоко · хорошо · окно
Русская буква О читается как [о] только под ударением. Без ударения она звучит как [а] или как очень короткий, неясный звук. Это называется «аканье».
The Russian letter О sounds like [o] only when it is stressed. Unstressed, it turns into [a] (just before the stress) or a very short, blurred vowel. Learning this is the single biggest step towards sounding natural.
Under stress the О is a full, round [о].
- дом(house)
- стол(table)
- кот(cat)
- он(he)
In the syllable right before the stress, О is pronounced [а].
- Москва(ma-SKVA)
- окно(a-KNO)
- вода(va-DA)
- она(a-NA)
Two or more syllables before the stress, or after it, О becomes a barely-there [ə].
- молоко(mə-la-KO)
- хорошо(hə-ra-SHO)
- спасибо(spa-SI-bə)
- много(MNO-gə)
💡 Why it matters
Spelling keeps the О, but the ear hears [а]. If you say every О as [о] you will sound like a robot; if you hear [а] and write А you will misspell. Train both directions.
- хорошо → хараШО
- молоко → малаКО
💡 Stress is not marked
Russian texts do not mark the stress. The course marks it in the verb tables and reads every text aloud so you can copy it.
- гóрод
- городá
⚠️ Some speakers (especially in the north) pronounce every О as [о] — it is understood everywhere, but the Moscow norm reduces it.
🎯 Testa-te: como soa o X?
Primeiro responde, depois confirma com o 🔊. Ganhas ⭐ por cada resposta certa!
- дом
- окно (the first о)
- хорошо (the first о)
- стол
- она
- спасибо (the last о)