Hi there, i’m new here posting for the first time. I always wondered why russians say ‘что’ like [shto]? Is it correct and do ALL russians say so? Thnx.

I suppose ALL Russians pronounce it like shto. I never heard it said in another way.

Russians rather say ЧЁ
And Ukrainians say ШО

“Что” is pronounced all over the former USSR as [shto] and this is just a peculiarity of the language. Yes, it’s supposed to be pronounced [chto] but it doesn’t. Just like you call the French Renault [reno] and not [renault].

There are two words that i know where “что” must be pronounced [chto] and not [shto]:

НЕЧТО  (something)
НИЧТОЖЕСТВО  (nonentity)

петька - 11 January 2011 05:06 PM

Russians rather say ЧЁ
And Ukrainians say ШО

Don’t be misguided. [чё] is simply a colloquial form. Very colloquial.
The conventional pronunciation of “что” [shto]!