Most difficult russian word to pronounce

Each of us has at least a word that just did not want to get into his/her head. Don’t lie. It could be a word for which you every time have to copy and paste the spelling, or just copy manually from a trustful source. Or it could be something you risk your life when pronouncing (you know the feeling, if you’ve read this article). Anyways, we have collected the most difficult Russian words for us, and want to share them with you!

Top 5 Hard-to-Write Words

Достопримечательность (“Tourist attraction”)

We choose not to pick Russian’s longest words simply because they are going to be of no use, but this beauty right here, you meet her quite often, especially if you are visiting Russia. The problem is mostly because of the quantity of Os and Es, which, as you know, when unstressed sound [a]s and [i]s.

Здравствуйте (quite formal “Hello”)

My pet peeve. Also known as всдравствуйте or здраствуйте, but only by friends. The abundance of consonants makes this word here one of the most renowned (feared?) Russian words.

В воскресенье (“on Sunday”)

The detached В at the beginning, the final combo ье, a bit unusual… The debate ought to be why this word should not be included in such a top list, not the opposite. The arguments against, like the unstressed Es, abound.

С удовольствием (“gladly”)

This is a common expression in Russian and is pretty arduous since it is hard to understand how to write it when your first hear it. Difficulties start with the “с” detached from the following word, which is quite inconvenient since it is pronounced altogether like the rest of Russian prepositions. But there’s more! You should also try to get the soft sign right after the “л” and remember that the accent is on the second “о” and then the final instrumental declension “ием”. Maybe after a while, when you get used to Russian pronunciation and cases, it is just easier. But until that, it is something you have to learn by heart…. or write on your arm before the test, if it fits in.

К сожалению (“unfortunately”)

This is another popular Russian expression and it is again something that they usually teach to beginners because it is very useful when you are speaking. But when it comes to writing it, if you don’t know a lot about the dative case or the prepositions, things could be quite hard for you. Should I write also an “и” in the end or is the “ю” sound enough? Is that thing I have heard after the “ж” an “е” or an “а”? Too many questions and just a few answers during the диктант moment!

Top 5 Hard-to-Pronounce Words

Pronunciation in Russian can be a nightmare, first of all because there are some exceptions which you just have to learn by heart. Secondarily, some features of Russian language make it harder to know how to pronounce a word. What about the fact that, a few days after you have started your Russian course, they take away all the accents from the texts you are going to read? This is actually normal, because Russian does not have graphic accents, but it is still pretty inconvenient to master long rows of consonants while you strive to remember where the accent is in that specific word. We have put together a list of words we struggled to pronounce at first, tell us if that was the case for you as well!

Соответственно (“accordingly”)

Well, this should be listed also under the most difficult words to write because it is troublesome also for native speakers. It is basically a bunch of “т”, “в” and “с” which should be pronounced one after another, and there is also the un tricky double “о” at the beginning. Where is the accent? Are the consonant voiced or voiceless? Am I wrong or the“т” are way too many in there?

Защищающийся (“defending”)

I think it is pretty clear why this word belongs here, and it is not just because it contains the “щ”, which after years of Russian courses is still pretty difficult to tell apart from the letter “ш”. It is namely because there are 3 of them and I still have troubles figuring out how one should articulate it and then utter something else as well! Like, is it possible to move again your tongue? Don’t you feel the need to take a break afterwards? The life of the Russian learner is never easy.

Жаворонок (“skylark”)

This word is used in Casual Russian to say that someone is a morning person… would you dare to say it or would you keep quiet? In itself the word is pretty straight-forward, but the problem comes when you don’t know where to put the stress. Three o’s? Come on… Luckily we’ve written about some of the tools you can use to find out how to pronounce it in the post Learn Russian with these 4 helpful websites.

Переосвидетельствующимися (“re-examining”)

Elvis Presley famously sang ‘you’ve came to the right place if you’re looking for trouble’. I think it goes without saying you’ve found trouble. 24 letters, a soft sign in the middle and a few nasty letter combinations at the end may even make the fluent Russian-speaker stumble. It transliterates to PEREOSVIDELTEL’STVUYUSHCHIMISYA and should be avoided by all means.

Среднестатистический (“average”)

A hard word to avoid, especially if you’re working or studying something that is related to numbers. The letters are not that difficult and there are no o’s to mess up your flow. However, this part of the word – ‘нестатистиче’ – will make you stutter a few times before you get it right.

This article is the summary of the struggle of 3 of our students, Chiara Frederik and Alessandro! If you feel like you need help to cope with those difficult Russian words, maybe our article 3 Apps to Learn Russian could help you in your fight! What do you think? Do you have a different “nightmare” word that you want to share with us? Feel free to comment and tell us what you are currently struggling to master in Russian or about an obstacle you overcame!

Read also: The Top 5 Russian Idioms You Should Know

Russian is hard. You can learn the alphabet in some minutes, but reading and pronouncing can make you crazy. Particularly with regard to some “annoying” words.

When determining the “difficulty” of a word, one can be guided by the number of letters and the number of words from which it is composed, since the longest words are compound. Usually it’s terms, definitions or concepts. They convey the essence of phenomena or objects in the name very concisely and accurately: труднодоступный, сельскохозяйственный, естествознание, литературоведение, воздухоплаватель, бронетранспортёр.

There are many words that are difficult to pronounce: terms borrowed from foreign languages, names of medicines, specific scientific vocabulary, names of professions, etc.

Chemistry, for example, is full of really long words: метоксихлордиэтиламинометилбутиламиноакридин, метилпропенилендигидроксициннаменилакрилическая кислота, тринитротолуол (quite short but hard as hell), дезоксирибонуклеиновая кислота, диметилалкилбензиламмонийхлорид, кокамидопропилпропиленгликольдимонийхлоридфосфат.

Hard-to-pronounce words can also be found in colloquial speech: сверхчеловек, танцплощадка, бесперспективняк etc.

According to The Guinness Book of Records the longest word in the Russian language is превысокомногорассмотрительствующий (2003). In 1993 it was рентгеноэлектрокардиографического.

But there are other long words that can be really difficult to pronounce:

частнопредпринимательский [chasnapryetpreeneematyel’skeey] (adjective)

человеконенавистничество [chyelavyekanyenaveesnyechyestva] (noun)

высокопревосходительство [visokopryevashadeetyel’stva] (noun)

одиннадцатиклассница [adeenatsateeklasneetsa] (noun)

делопроизводительница [dyelapraeezvadeetyelneetsa] (noun)

интернационализироваться [eenternatsionaleezeeravatsa] (verb)

переосвидетельствоваться [pyeryeasveedyetyelstvavatsa] (verb)

субстанционализироваться [soobstantsianaleezeeravatsa] (verb)

The longest adverb is неудовлетворительно.

Conjunctions are usually short but we also have соответственно.

There are also technical terms that can be really long. For example:

• сельскохозяйственно-машиностроительный
• электрофотополупроводниковый
• водогрязеторфопарафинолечение

Another example: the prefix «пра-» (great-) can be used in a concept that indicates the degree of relationship many times – прапрапрапрапрапрапрапрапрапрапрадедушка (great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather). Theoretically, this word can be stretched indefinitely.

Word formations from numerals that denote certain quantities can also be extremely long: тысячадевятьсотвосьмидисетяшестисантиметровый.

Here’s the list of words that can be hard to pronounce for various reasons:

• пункт
• Рюрик
• средств
• лучший
• первого
• впервые
• жребий
• газового
• разрезка
• пассажиры
• режиссёр
• университет
• вздремнуть
• утверждения
• длинношеее
• природного
• маршруту
• предприятие
• сиреневенький
• воспользовавшемуся
• спутникового
• записывавшегося
• участвовавшими
• достопримечательность
• предшествовавшими
• усовершенствованиями
• облагодетельствованные
• покровительствовавшие
• выгравированы
• государственного
• правительство
• самоотверженность
• электроэнергия
• мелкокалиберными
• неиссякаемый
• мемориальные
• опубликовывать
• регенерирующее
• зарегистрировал
• продемонстрировал
• трансформируемый
• компрометирующими
• микрорайонах
• экспроприировать
• архивариусов
• разрисовывать
• разрекламированный
• разряжаться
• исчезнувшие
• реставрируемого
• проиллюстрировала
• непримиримыми
• ревербератор
• сюрреализм
• урегулирование кризиса
• разрешение
• побережье
• перламутровый
• интерпретировать
• иерархия
• лаборатория
• ответственность
• конституционной
• экзальтированность
• транспортируемыми
• претендентки
• конфиденциальных
• зафиксировавшие
• констатировавшими
• выкристаллизовавшимися
• неистовствующую
• многофункциональный
• художественное
• ходатайствовать
• корреспонденция
• целесообразное
• рекогносцировка
• экзаменационный
• демуниципализировать
• публицистический
• разнервничавшаяся
• отечественного
• фантасмагорический
• политическом
• психологическим
• педагогическом
• юридических
• стоматологический
• приличествующие
• спутникового
• взяточничество
• специфический
• подчеркивается
• завершившихся
• участвовавшего
• записывавшегося
• защищающихся
• удовлетворительный
• трансцендентный
• покровительствовавшие
• калькуляционный
• трудновыговариваемый
• плохоскоординированный
• облагодетельствованны
• электростеклоподъемники
• триста тридцать три
• четырёхсот долларового
• коммерческо-посредническую
• санитарно-эпидемиологических
• санитарно-гигиенических
• дифференцированная рента
• территориальная целостность
• опосредованному субсидированию
• международного финансового учреждения

What words are the hardest to pronounce in your experience?

Seemingly bizarre and alien letters, complex verb conjugations and a slew of consonant letters – even those who are fluent sometimes find their tongue tied.

The Russian language has 33 letters and even more sounds. In addition, letters are pronounced differently than written. Which words are most difficult even for those who speak Russian well? Try to pronounce these!

Linguistic nightmares

Pronouncing the letter ы [y] is a nightmare for foreigners. How to do it correctly? Smile and put your finger parallel to your lips and then pronounce и [e]. When foreigners try to pronounce something with this sound they often make other letters softer, for example, they say мишь instead of мышь. Some describe this as the sound a person makes when kicked in the stomach.

“The hardest words for me are actually short ones with non-English sounds; for example, сыр [cheese], is quite hard to pronounce correctly,” said UK-based editor Thomas Hodson.

Russia Beyond editors Peggy Lohse (Germany) and Lucia Bellinello (Italy) mentioned пыль [dust] as difficult words. UK-based editor Nick Holdsworth said the hardest word for him is бык[bull]. “That ‘uykh’ sound always comes out as ‘bik.’”

The letters ж [zh], ш [sh], щ [shch], and ч [ch] are also hard to pronounce. What’s even funnier is that they often come in a group. A hard ш sounds like a snake’s hiss. The sound ч is soft and dull, as in the word “chance.” A hard щ is a combination of ш and ч [try to say: “shchi”]. The letter ж makes a sound thatreminds one of buzzing bees.

For example: соотвествующие[relevant], and защищать[to defend]. “The letter щ is difficult for us, and here you have two so close!” said U.S.-based editor and journalist John Varoli.

“I had a lot of trouble with достопримечательности [sights] because it’s so long,” said Eva Hofman, a Dutch journalist.

Мужчина [man] – comes out as “мущщина,” shared Lucia. “When I want to order fresh juice, it’s a challenge because in Russian it’s called свежевыжатый.”

Russia Beyond journalist Tim Kirby gave these examples: штукатурка [plaster], Хрущёв [Khrushchev, the Soviet leader in 1953-1964], Шарикоподшипниковская улица [Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street, which means Ball Bearing Street].

Sometimes the names of Russian streets can raise questions. “When I studied at the Centre for International Education in Moscow, the building was located on Kржижановского [Krzhyzhanovsky] Street, which made it difficult to ask for directions,” recalled Thomas. [Gleb Krzyzanovsky was a Soviet scientist with Polish roots].

We need more consonants!

“It’s a horror when there are a lot of consonants in a word,” said Lucia. For example, Краснопресненская [Krasnopresnenskaya is the name of the Moscow metro station, which derives from the Presnya River.]

Tim added more such names: Большой Спасоглинищевский переулок [Big Spasoglinischevsky Lane, named after the Church of the Transfiguration on Glinischi. Glinischi was the medieval name of that area, deriving came from the word “clay”]. Улица 1905 года [The Street of 1905] takes a while to pronounce – “Ulitsa tysyacha devyatsot pyatogo goda.”

Among difficult words Tim also listed здравствуйте [hello], спровоцировать [provoke], квалификационный [qualifying], and отрапортовал [report].

Sometimes it’s hard to understand the idea of the soft sign letter, ь, and the hard sign, ъ, such as here: вольноопределяющийся [volunteer soldier in Tsarist Russia], and используемые [used]. “The letterь confuses me,” said John.

“Words that start with two of the same letters freak me out,” added John. Like ввод [enter]. 

Joe Cresente, a U.S. based writer and director of content creation at COLAB, agreed: “I often get into trouble when I try to read nouns out loud with 4+ syllables too quickly, such as неодушевлённость[inanimation], or переосвидетельствующимися [re-examining].”

“For me, as with German, all words with hard л [l] are complicated,” said Peggy. “Like: лук [onion], and ложка [spoon]. “I also trained for a long time to say среднестатистический [average].” 

“And when talking, I’m always afraid to mix up the accent in words where it is VERY important to get it correct,” added Peggy. 

Like: мукА [flour] – мУка [sorrow]; or писАть [to write] – пИсать [to pee]. 

“I always get tongue-tied when I try to say самостоятельно[myself]. It’s more psychological than anything else,” noted Ajay Kamalakaran, author of Globetrotting for Love and Other Stories from Sakhalin Island.

“Yesterday I changed the fluorescent lights in my kitchen and realized I can’t pronounce the Russian version – флуоресцентный,”shared Thomas.

Well, if it’s any consolation, some of these words can sometimes be very difficult even for Russians.

Read more:

Here’s what you can learn about bizarre Russian life from textbooks

Myths and realities about how to speak with Russians on the phone

Why Russians throw pearls to pigs

10 Russian words impossible to translate into English

What do Russians mean when they say ‘yes, no, maybe’ all at the same time?

Why is the Russian language so difficult?

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Урок 20. 20 труднопроизносимых русских слов. Lesson 20. 20 Difficult Russian Words to Pronounce.