Belarusian Language Guide

Official language in
Belarus
Script
Cyrillic

Where it's spoken

Belarusian and Russian are the official languages of the Republic of Belarus, according to its constitution. The constitution also states that everyone has the right to use their native language and to choose the language of communication.

The author of a grammar of Belarusian written for readers who already know Russian or Ukrainian writes, in its introduction, that Russian is the dominant language in Belarus. The same author writes that many government documents are printed only in Belarusian and that most street signs are in Belarusian, and that there is great variation in the Belarusian language from region to region.

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Script & pronunciation

A phrase book for English speakers says that the Cyrillic alphabet is dominating the scene in writing Belarusian, although a Latin-letter script called Lacinka is still surviving. The cards in this app are written in Cyrillic.

The grammar says that the letter у is written ў when it comes after a vowel, and that ў is pronounced like the English w. This app's cards romanize ў as w, as in Паўтарыце ("Once more, please"), romanized Paw-ta-ry-tse, and in Я ў транзіце ("I'm in transit"), romanized Ya w tran-zi-tse.

The phrase book describes the letter г as having no English equivalent, roughly like the h in "how," and describes ы as a "dark" hard i, like the i in "Chris." This app's cards romanize г as h and ы as y, as in the card Мой багаж яшчэ не прыбыў ("My luggage hasn't arrived"), romanized Moy ba-hazh yash-che ne pry-byw.

The grammar says that the vowel letter ё represents the same sound as о with an initial y sound added. This app's cards romanize ё as yo and the soft sign ь as an apostrophe, as in У вас ёсць ліфт? ("Do you have an elevator / lift?"), romanized U vas yosts' lift?

The grammar says that the apostrophe has no sound of its own, and that its function is to separate the sound of the vowel after it from the consonant before it. It appears in the card Сям'я ("Family"), romanized Sya-m'ya.

The grammar also states that the letters о, э and ё exist only when stressed, with exceptions that are all loan words, and that unstressed о and э change to а. The card Я не разумею ("I don't understand"), romanized Ya ne ra-zu-me-yu, is described in its note as an example of this, with unstressed o written a.

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Grammar essentials

The grammar gives Belarusian nouns six cases, which it calls the nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental and prepositional. According to the grammar, the prepositional case is used only after prepositions.

After the word няма ("there is none") the grammar shows the genitive, as in У мяне няма грошай ("I do not have any money"). This app's card У мяне няма браніравання ("I don't have a reservation") notes that after няма the noun браніраванне takes the genitive браніравання. The card Ці можна аплаціць карткай? ("Can I pay by card?") notes that the instrumental expresses the means, so картка becomes карткай. The card Ці можна ехаць на гэтым аўтамабілі за мяжу? ("Can I take this car across the border?") notes that на plus the prepositional case expresses "by" a vehicle.

According to the grammar, the verb быць, "to be," has no present tense conjugation. The phrase book says that the present tense of "to be" can very often be omitted, and that overusing it is probably the most typical mistake among English speakers learning Belarusian. This app's card У мяне ёсць браніраванне ("I have a reservation") uses ёсць, and its note says that ёсць is always written with ё. The card У вас ёсць ліфт? notes that "у plus genitive plus ёсць" expresses "have."

The grammar says that the past tense is conjugated for gender and number, but not for person. The card Я забыў / забыла свой PIN-код ("I forgot my PIN code.") notes that the past tense depends on the speaker's gender.

This app's card Я не разумею notes that a verb is negated with не placed before it. The card Не ("No") notes that не is both "no" and the verbal negation particle.

According to the grammar, ці is a particle that indicates a question, as in its example Ці размаўляеш па-беларуску? ("Do you speak Belarusian?"). The phrase book says that questions of the "is it" or "is there" type usually begin with the particle ці. This app's card Ці можам мы дамовіцца пра сустрэчу? ("Can we arrange a meeting?") notes that starting with Ці makes a yes/no question. The card Ці ёсць у вас вольныя нумары? ("Do you have any available rooms?") is romanized Tsi yosts' u vas vol'-ny-ya nu-ma-ry? The card Вы размаўляеце па-англійску? ("Do you speak English?") instead notes that the question is marked by intonation alone.

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Politeness & etiquette

The grammar's pronoun table lists ты as the second person singular and вы as the second person plural. This app's card Вы размаўляеце па-англійску? ("Do you speak English?") is romanized Vy raz-maw-lya-ye-tse pa-an-hliy-sku? The card Я слабавідушчы / слабавідушчая — ці можаце вы мне дапамагчы? ("I am visually impaired — can you help me?") notes that вы is the polite "you."

According to the grammar, the plural imperative is formed by adding the suffix -це to the singular imperative. This app's cards treat the ending as a polite form too: the card Прабачце ("Excuse me / I am sorry") notes that -це marks the polite/plural form. The card Не падманвай мяне ("Don't cheat me / Stop ripping me off") notes that it is a ты imperative and gives a polite form with the -це ending.

The card Ці можаце вы выпрастаць / завіць валасы? ("Can you straighten / perm my hair?") notes that "ці можаце вы plus infinitive" is a polite request. The card Ці маглі б вы даць больш падрабязную інфармацыю? ("Could you provide more detailed information?") notes that маглі б вы is a polite conditional request.

The card Прывітанне ("Hello") is marked as informal, and its usage note describes it as a casual greeting among friends and younger people.

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