The Bulgarian Alphabet: A Plain-English Guide to All 30 Letters
Last checked: October 2026
Bulgarian is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. It looks like a wall of strange symbols at first, but it has only 30 letters, and most of them make one sound each. Spend a week on it and you can read shop signs, street names and menus.
This guide gives you every letter with its sound in plain English and a useful example word.
Hear it and test yourself: our free alphabet and phrase game plays each word aloud. Choose "Alphabet sounds" to practise the letters.
Start here: the letters that trick English speakers
Some Bulgarian letters look exactly like English letters but make a different sound. These cause most of the early confusion:
| Looks like | Actually sounds like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| В | V | Вход (vhod) — entrance |
| Н | N | Не (neh) — no |
| Р | R (rolled) | Ресторант (res-toh-RANT) — restaurant |
| С | S | Сметка (SMET-kah) — the bill |
| У | OO | Улица (OO-lee-tsah) — street |
| Х | H (throaty, like "loch") | Хляб (hlyab) — bread |
And one with no English equivalent: Ъ is a short "uh" sound, like the u in "hurt". You meet it straight away, because it is in the country's own name: България (bul-GAH-ree-yah).
Once these click, most signs stop being a puzzle.
The easy ones
These look and sound much like English:
А (a), Е (e), К (k), М (m), О (o), Т (t)
So ТАКСИ is simply taksi, a taxi, and МЕТРО is metro.
All 30 letters
| Bulgarian letter | English sound | example word |
|---|---|---|
| А а | a in "father" | Аптека (ahp-TEH-kah) — pharmacy |
| Б б | b in "bed" | Банка (BAHN-kah) — bank |
| В в | v in "van" | Вода (voh-DAH) — water |
| Г г | g in "go" | Град (grahd) — town |
| Д д | d in "dog" | Дом (dom) — home |
| Е е | e in "bed" | Евро (EV-roh) — euro |
| Ж ж | s in "pleasure" | Живот (zhee-VOT) — life |
| З з | z in "zoo" | Здраве (ZDRAH-veh) — health |
| И и | ee in "see" | Имот (ee-MOT) — property |
| Й й | y in "yes" | Май (my) — May |
| К к | k in "kit" | Къща (KUSH-tah) — house |
| Л л | l in "lamp" | Лекар (LEH-kar) — doctor |
| М м | m in "map" | Море (moh-REH) — sea |
| Н н | n in "net" | Нотариус (noh-TAH-ree-oos) — notary |
| О о | o in "hot" | Община (OB-shtee-nah) — municipality |
| П п | p in "pen" | Покрив (POH-kreev) — roof |
| Р р | rolled r | Ремонт (reh-MONT) — renovation |
| С с | s in "sun" | Село (SEH-loh) — village |
| Т т | t in "top" | Ток (tok) — electricity |
| У у | oo in "moon" | Улица (OO-lee-tsah) — street |
| Ф ф | f in "fish" | Фирма (FEER-mah) — company |
| Х х | h in Scottish "loch" | Хляб (hlyab) — bread |
| Ц ц | ts in "cats" | Цена (tseh-NAH) — price |
| Ч ч | ch in "church" | Чай (chai) — tea |
| Ш ш | sh in "shop" | Шофьор (shoh-FYOR) — driver |
| Щ щ | sht in "ashtray" | Щастие (SHTAHS-tee-eh) — happiness |
| Ъ ъ | Deep “uh” vowel; no exact English equivalent | Ъгъл (UH-gul) — corner |
| Ь ь | softens the letter before "о" (yo) | Шофьор (shoh-FYOR) — driver |
| Ю ю | yu in "you" | Юли (YOO-lee) — July |
| Я я | ya in "yard" | Ябълка (YAH-bul-kah) — apple |
Notice how many of the example words are ones you will actually need when buying a house: имот (property), къща (house), покрив (roof), ремонт (renovation), нотариус (notary), община (municipality).
Five tips that make it click
- Learn the six trick letters first. В, Н, Р, С, У and Х cause almost all the early mistakes.
- Bulgarian is mostly spelled as it sounds. Unlike English, once you know the letters you can usually say a word correctly, apart from where the stress falls.
- Practise on real signs. Try reading every shop sign, road sign and menu. АПТЕКА (pharmacy) and БОЛНИЦА (hospital) are two to recognise instantly.
- Watch out for handwriting and italics. In handwritten and italic text some letters change shape (for example, a handwritten т can look like an English m). Start with printed signs.
- Little and often. Five minutes a day for two weeks beats one long session.
Practise now
- Play the free alphabet and phrase game and pick Alphabet sounds. It shows each letter, you pick its sound, and you hear the example word.
- See all the letters, numbers and 47 useful phrases on our Bulgarian alphabet and phrases page.
- Ready for real sentences? Read Bulgarian phrases for buying a house.
Pronunciation is written for English speakers and is a close guide, not perfect. Listening and repeating is what gets your accent right.
General guidance only — not legal, tax or immigration advice. Rules change; always check official sources and use a qualified professional for your situation.
FAQ
How many letters are in the Bulgarian alphabet?
The modern Bulgarian alphabet has 30 letters. It uses Cyrillic, with six vowel letters: А, Е, И, О, У and Ъ. The soft sign Ь does not have a sound on its own.
Is Bulgarian Cyrillic the same as Russian?
No, although both languages use Cyrillic and share many letters. Bulgarian has 30 letters, while Russian has 33, including Ё, Ы and Э, which Bulgarian does not use. Bulgarian Ъ is a vowel, and Щ usually sounds like “sht”, so Russian pronunciation guides are not a reliable substitute.
Which Bulgarian letters look like English but sound different?
The six common traps are В, Н, Р, С, У and Х. They sound roughly like V, N, a rolled R, S, “oo” and the throaty sound at the end of Scottish “loch”, respectively. English approximations are only a starting point; listen to Bulgarian recordings too.
How long does it take to learn the Bulgarian alphabet?
Many beginners can recognise the printed letters after a week or two of short daily practice, but there is no fixed timetable. Reading unfamiliar words smoothly takes longer. Try five to ten minutes each day using real signs, example words and recordings.
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