What is this?

Here are the new letters you need:

Capital	Small	Sounds like
Ч	ч	ch in chair (notice that the letter looks like an upside-down chair)
Э	э	e in echo
О	о	o in open

To make these words:

Word	Means
что	what
э́то	this

Putting them together, you get this handy phrase:

Что э́то?

which means, “What is this?” Click the speaker and listen to the phrase.

You might be wondering...

1. If Russian is phonetic, how come the ч doesn’t sound like ‘ch’?
   Find out why.
2. If Russian is phonetic, then why is the о pronounced differently in the two words?
   Find out why.
3. Where’s the word “is” in the Russian phrase?
   Find out.

If you aren’t worried about any of this, just continue.