Thread: Spelling rules for A or O and more?

Despite the cleverness of Cyrillic alphabet, I still have some troubles with spelling. I spend FAR too much time trying to memorise spelling that doesn't always appear too logical. (I had thought that Russian was better than English in this respect. I must be missing something... )

I'd like to know:

Are there any "rules" for when to use A or O (I am aware of the pronounciation rules, but what about for spelling? )

I also struggle with "И" vs "Ы".

Is there any site or documentation that gives tips about what to remember for spelling Russian? Or perhaps there is brief summary that somebody could put down here? Just something to help me to get sidetracked and delayed by spelling...

Originally Posted by Johanna

Are there any "rules" for when to use A or O (I am aware of the pronounciation rules, but what about for spelling? )

It's a bit strange question... Are there any rules for when to use A or O, E or U in English? Why we write "cat" with an "a" and "not" with an "o"? Every word has its root. It's historical.

Are there any "rules" for when to use A or O... I also struggle with "И" vs "Ы".

There are some strict rules in Russian, which regulate the use of и/ы, а/о, и/е. For example, one of the first rules, which learn children at school, is «"жи", "ши" пиши с буквой "и"». So there are such words as жир, ужин, виражи, ширма, вершина, гроши, but words жыр, ужын, виражы, шырма, вершына, грошы do not exist. The general rule: letters я, ю, ы are not used after swishes ж, ч, ш, щ; you must to use а, у, и, respectively. Second example: if a word root has the syllable «ци/цы», then you must to spell «ци», but not «цы». Such words like цирк, циркуль, цинга and социум obey this rule. All exceptions are concentrated in the sentence: «Цыган встал на цыпочки и сказал цыпленку: "Цыц!"».

Is there any site or documentation that gives tips about what to remember for spelling Russian?

http://www.evartist.narod.ru/text1/22.htm (Russian).

Johanna, try to google for 'Правописание безударных гласных в корне слова."

http://www.astro.usu.ru/content/source/ ... efault.htm

http://www.astro.usu.ru/content/source/ ... efault.htm

Thanks a lot for the responses. The comment from Звездочёт were exactly what I was hoping for. I am not yet good enough at Russian to read the text in the links from Ramil, but later I will... Thanks both!

Sorry Olja if the question seemed a bit stupid. I just can't tell the difference between some of the Russian sounds at times, so that makes it harder to know which vowel to use. It's getting better though, but knowing some basic spelling rules will help.

Originally Posted by Johanna

Sorry Olja if the question seemed a bit stupid.

Well, I see now that it's just that I didn't get your question right first.