how to pronounce были

/ˈbɨlʲɪ/

audio example by a male speaker

audio example by a female speaker

the above transcription of были is a detailed (narrow) transcription according to the rules of the International Phonetic Association; you can find a description of each symbol by clicking the phoneme buttons in the secction below.

были is pronounced in two syllables

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1.

2.

lʲ

example pitch curve for pronunciation of были

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video examples of были pronunciation

An example use of были in a speech by a native speaker of standard russian:

“… и аполлон у ссср были восток и союз оон …”

meanings of были

noun:

Nominative/accusative plural.
Genitive/dative/prepositional singular.

verb:

Plural past indicative imperfective of быть (bytʹ).

были frequency in russian - A1 level of CEFR

the word были occurs in russian on average 972.5 times per one million words; this frequency warrants it to be in the study list for A1 level of language mastery according to CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference.