KeyboardsToolsGuidesCountries
Français العربية English

Cyrillic ↔ Latin converter

Turn Russian text into the Latin alphabet, with a romanization suited to English or to French readers. In the other direction, type Russian the way it sounds, such as “privet” or “spasibo”, to get Cyrillic letters.

How to use

  1. Choose Cyrillic → Latin or Latin → Cyrillic.
  2. For Latin output, select English-style (simplified BGN) or French-style romanization.
  3. Paste your Russian text, or type Russian in Latin letters.
  4. Review the result and copy it into your document.

English-style or French-style romanization

Several Russian sounds are spelled differently in English and in French, so the tool offers two methods:

Cyrillic English-style (simplified BGN) French-style
ж zh j
у u ou
ш sh ch
ч ch tch
х kh kh
щ shch chtch
ю yu iou
я ya ia
ё yo io
й y ï

The English-style method matches what you see in most international sources: Ясная Поляна becomes “Yasnaya Polyana” and шапка becomes “shapka”. The French-style method gives “Iasnaia Poliana” and “chapka”, as in French newspapers and books. The hard sign ъ is left out in both.

Names ending in -ий show the gap clearly: Юрий becomes “Yuriy” in English style and “Iouriï” in French style. When a name already has an established spelling, such as Tolstoy or Dostoevsky, keep that rather than the automatic output.

From Latin to Cyrillic, by sound

In this direction you write Russian as it is pronounced. Letter groups are matched before single letters, so “shch” gives щ rather than шч:

  • “privet” → привет, “spasibo” → спасибо
  • “khorosho” → хорошо, “borshch” → борщ
  • zh → ж, ch → ч, sh → ш, ya → я, yu → ю, ’ → ь

Two traps are worth knowing. A lone “y” gives ы, while й is typed as “j”. Also, the tool does not fix spelling: typing “kharasho” the way it sounds produces харашо instead of хорошо. Write the vowels as Russian spells them, even when they are pronounced differently.

Typing Russian directly

For longer texts, the online Russian keyboard shows Cyrillic letters on screen and also works with your computer keyboard. Its phonetic mode uses the same letter matches as this converter, so you can see each letter appear and correct it straight away.

Frequently asked questions

How do I write a Russian name in English letters?
Paste the name in Cyrillic, choose Cyrillic → Latin and the English-style method. Чехов becomes “Chekhov” and Жуков becomes “Zhukov”. Stick to one method throughout the same document.
Why is the same Russian name spelled differently in English and French?
Each language spells Russian sounds with its own habits. The sound of ч is written “ch” in English but “tch” in French, which is why Chekhov appears as Tchekhov in French books. Neither spelling is wrong.
How do I get привет by typing privet?
Select Latin → Cyrillic and type “privet”: each letter is converted by its sound. Letter groups such as zh, ch, sh, shch, ya and yu become ж, ч, ш, щ, я and ю.
How is the soft sign ь written in Latin letters?
The English-style method writes ь as an apostrophe, while the French-style method drops it. When typing in Latin → Cyrillic, add an apostrophe after the consonant: “mat'” gives мать.
Is this an official Russian transliteration?
No. These are everyday romanizations, simplified for readability. They do not replace a required standard such as the passport system or ISO 9, so follow the rules of the relevant authority for official paperwork.

Related keyboards