Russian Spelling Rules

There are 3 vocalic-based spelling rules in Russian. These rules demonstrate which combinations of letters are not permitted in Russian.

Spelling rule #1

The letter ы may not occur after г, к, х and ж, ч, ш, щ. Instead of ы, the letter и should be written.

Spelling rule #2

The letters ю and я may not occur after г, к, х and ж, ц, ч, ш, щ. Instead of ю and я, the letters у and а should be written, respectively.

Spelling rule #3

Unstressed о may not occur after ж, ц, ч, ш, щ in endings (but it may occur in roots). The letter о should be replaced by the letter е.