Hard and soft signs: grammar exercises

The previous post was about hard and soft signs: where and how should you use them. Do you want to practice? There are some simple exercises. The only thing that you should do is to put the right letter (Ь/Ъ) or skip it. Below the exercises you can find keys and check all words.

The basic rules for hard and soft signs here 

1. раз__яснение 
2. в__юга 
3. контр__удар 
4. без__аварийный 
5. мат__ 
6. отец__ 
7. свин__я 
8. метел__ 
9. част__ 
10. с__ездит__ 
11. пред__явит__ 
12. брат__я 
13. об__явление 
14. двух__ярусный 
15. Н__ю-Йорк 
16. помощ__ 
17. с__экономит__ 
18. казн__ 
19. об__езд 
20. сем__я

Check the answers

1. разъяснение (an explanation) 
2. вьюга (a snowstorm) 
3. контрудар (counterblow) 
4. безаварийный (an accident-free) 
5. мать (a mother) 
6. отец (a father) 
7. свинья (a pig) 
8. метель (a snowstorm) 
9. часть (a part) 
10. съездить (to go) 
11. предъявить (to show) 
12. братья (brothers) 
13. объявление (a notice) 
14. двухъярусный (double-level) 
15. Нью-Йорк (New York) 
16. помощь (a help) 
17. сэкономить (to save) 
18. казнь (an execution) 
19. объезд (going around) 
20. семья (a family)

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Pronunciation: hard and soft signs

There are two letters in the russian alphabet that don't have any sounds - the hard sign (твёрдый знак) and the soft sign (мягкий знак). In this post, I will try to explain you how do we use these letters without any sounds and how can we pronounce them.

Ъъ - твёрдый знак 

Ьь - мягкий знак 

The hard sign 

You have to use the hard sign Ъ for separating a prefix and a root of a word. In this case a prefix should finish with a consonant (for example, под-, из-, об-, с-) and a root should start with a vowel (only е, ё, ю or я). Examples: подъезд (an entrance), изъять (to withdraw), объятие (an embrace), съесть (to eat).

Also you have to use tha hard sign Ъ for separating in compound words with numbers such as двухъярусный (double-level), трёхъязычный (trilingual, triglot).

NB! There is no the hard sign in front of the other vowels. Examples: безопасный (safe), контрудар (counterblow), трансарктический (transarctic).

The soft sign

You have to use the soft sign Ь for separating inside a word (in a root or in a suffix) and only before vowels е, ё, ю, я, и: вьюга (a snowstorm), бурьян (weeds). Sometimes there is the soft sign Ь after the vowel о also, but it's only for foreign words: бульон (a bouillon), синьор (a signor). The vowel that follows the soft sign Ь becomes yotated. Compare two words: семя (a seed) - семья (a family).

A consonant before the soft sign Ь becomes soft.

The soft sign Ь can end a word also. In this case a consonant on front of Ь is softened, too. Examples: гореть (to be on fire), степь (a steppe), мать (a mother).

NB! Remember that you can't write the soft sign Ь after a prefix.

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Pronunciation of consonants: hard and soft

The basic rules of pronunciation the russian letters are given in one of the fisrt my post - The Russian alphabet.

Now I want to give you some advices how to pronounce soft and hard consonants.

There are 20 consonants · 3 always soft: й, ч, щ; · 3 always hard: ж, ш, ц; · 14 could be hard or soft: б, в, г, д, з, к, л, м, н, п, р, с, т, ф, х.

When consonants are hard?

before a hard vowel: а, о, у, ы, э	баржа, рот, пуля, пытка, мэр
before a hard consonant: б, в, г, ж, ш, ц etc	брод, пламя, окно, хвост
at the end of a word	стук, диван, кот, утюг, парад

When consonants are soft?

before a soft vowel: е, ё, и, ю, я	мелочь, клён, кино, люстра, Рязань
before a soft sign: ь	пень, маленький, калька
before a soft consonant: б', в', м', н' etc	влюбиться, прятки, плётка

NB! There are 3 consonants in the Russian alphabet (г, к, х) which are softened only before soft vowels е or и. Examples: геолог, гирлянда, Керчь, кит, херувим, хилый.


How to pronounce hard and soft sounds?


When you pronounce soft sounds, the middle part of the tongue rises and touches the palate. There is only the small duct between the tongue and the palate. When you pronounce hard sounds, this duct through which air goes is bigger. Compare with English words: leader - like, do - during, mean - miss.

Do you want to know about russian pronunciations? Just choose the category alphabet.

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Pronunciation of vowels: е, ё, ю, я

The basic rules of pronunciation the russian letters are given in one of the fisrt my post - The Russian alphabet.

Now I want to give you more about specific russian sounds - pronunciation of vowels.

There are 10 vowels

 
But for describing pronunciation four of them (е, ё, ю, я) we use the term yotation.

 

Yotation is a form of palatalization which occurs in Slavic langaguges.

Following the rules, we yotate the letters е, ё, ю, я:

• at the beginning of a word;
• when they follow a vowel;
• when they follow a hard sign;
• when they follow a soft sign.

In all these cases above the letters е, ё, ю, я are prononunced like ye (yes), yo (New York), yu (usually), ya (yacht).

ель	ye	e at the beginning of a word
поём	yo	ё follows a vowel
объяснение	ya	я follows a hard sign
вьюга	yu	ю follows a soft sign

We also must yotate the letters е, ё, ю, я when they follow a consonant. But the yotation should be less than in the previous cases. There are similar sounds in English language.

лента	e (mess)	е follows a consonant
рёв	eou (Seoul)	ё follows a consonant
пюре	u (tuna)	ю follows a consonant
пряность	ya (hyacinth)	я follows a consonant

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