Russian Classes: The hardest Russian words to pronounce

Pavel Kuzmichev

Привет!

Some time ago we asked our readers about hard-to-pronounce Russian words. I’ve gathered them below.

I also have my own list of the most difficult words for foreigners to learn.

All of them are different parts of speech - noun, verb, adverb; while the last - "защищающихся" - is a participle form of the reflexive verb "защищаться" ("to defend oneself"). It's quite a famous word, because Lewis Carroll, while travelling in Russia, noted it down in his diary as particularly long and unpronounceable. Here's his questionable transcription: “zаshtshееshtshауоуshtshееkhsуа”. Impossible, right?!

Here are some example of them being used in a sentence:

• Моя жена Эля хочет посетить все достопримечательности Москвы.
• My wife Elya wants to visit all of Moscow's sights.

• Apple снова усовершенствовали iPhone
• Apple has improved the iPhone again.

• Во время приседаний держите колени перпендикулярно полу.
• Keep your knees perpendicular to the floor during squats.

• Взгляните на защищающихся воинов на картинке!
• Look at the defending warriors in the picture!

Check out more lessons in our Telegram channel, using the tag #russianclasses!

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