Lesson 30: Hard Sign (Ъ) vs Soft Sign (Ь) | Russian Alphabet Pronunciation | Russian Comprehensive

What is the role of Hard Sign (Ъ) and Soft Sign (Ь) in Russian?
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✓ What exactly are Hard Sign (Ъ) and Soft Sign (Ь) in Russian?
✓ How do they sound?
✓ When do you use them?

The bottom line is, they both serve as an apostrophe in Russian, only Ь indicates that the consonant is SOFT, and Ъ indicates that the consonant is HARD.
They can be used:
Ъ - between a consonant and vowel;
Ь - between a consonant and a vowel / between 2 consonants / at the end of a word after a consonant.

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Long time ago, in Russian, every word had to end with a vowel.
Sometimes it would be a very short sound, and there were two of them: Ъ and Ь.
Right, the Hard sign (Ъ) and the Soft sign (Ь) used to be short vowels. Back then, they were called “Ер” and “Ерь”.

Over time, those short vowels at the end of words got reduced, though still kept in spelling. On practice, the Hard sign (Ъ) indicated that the preceding consonant was hard, and the Soft sign (Ь) indicated that the preceding consonant was soft.

In the early 20th century, Ъ at the end of words or between two consonants was deemed excessive and was soon abolished.
Today, both the Hard sign (Ъ) and the Soft sign (Ь) are used to separate a consonant and a vowel (mostly Я, Ё, Е, Ю), only the Hard sign (Ъ) separates a Hard consonant and a vowel, and the Soft sign (Ь) separates a Soft consonant and a vowel. Though in fluent speech, syllables with Ъ and Ь (i.e. МЬЯ vs МЪЯ) do sound pretty similar. In some other languages, a similar function is given to an apostrophe.

Ь has a much wider usage than Ъ in Russian; Ь can be used at the end of words or in between two consonants, and it indicates that the preceding consonant is soft.
Neither Ъ nor Ь can be a stand alone letter or the first letter in a word.

At the same time, there are some letters in Russian that are always hard or always soft, and will sound the same way, whether there is the Soft sign (Ь), or not.

0:00 - Intro
0:28 - What do the Hard Sign (Ъ) and the Soft Sign (Ь) sound like in Russian?
1:03 - The function of Ъ and Ь
6:45 - Using Ъ and Ь today vs in the past
7:37 - Ъ in memes / online comments
7:50 - Ь in the middle / at the end of a word
9:24 - Ь after Ж, Ш, Ц
10:11 - Ь after Ч, Щ
11:11 - Ь in "-ться"

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With clear directions and explanations, Russian won't seem that tricky.
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I hope, you'll enjoy the lesson!
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👉 Learn the RUSSIAN ALPHABET (10 minutes):

👉 How to Pronounce the Mysterious Russian Ы?

👉 3 Main Rules for READING in Russian:

👉 WRITE in Russian:

👉 Russian Numbers:

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[RussianComprehensive]

0:28 - What do the Hard Sign (Ъ) and the Soft Sign (Ь) sound like in Russian?
1:03 - The function of Ъ and Ь
6:45 - Using Ъ and Ь today vs in the past
7:37 - Ъ in memes / online comments
7:50 - Ь in the middle / at the end of a word
9:24 - Ь after Ж, Ш, Ц
10:11 - Ь after Ч, Щ
11:11 - Ь in "-ться"

Long time ago, the Hard sign (Ъ) and the Soft sign (Ь) used to be short vowels.
Today, they don't have any sound, they both are used to separate a consonant and a vowel (mostly Я, Ё, Е, Ю), only the Hard sign (Ъ) separates a Hard consonant and a vowel, and the Soft sign (Ь) separates a Soft consonant and a vowel. In some other languages, a similar function belongs to an apostrophe.
❗️ Keep in mind that in fluent speech, syllables with Ъ and Ь (i.e. МЬЯ vs МЪЯ) do sound pretty similar.
Read more about Ъ and Ь in the description!

👆 *Learn* *to* *Read* *in* *Russian* in an Hour or So *(Full* *Guide* *For* *Reading* *in* *Russian):*

[MazeofL]

Where do I vote in order to name you the best Russian teacher on the internet? You deserve the credit. You and your content are amazing!!!

[catboy]

So many Russian teachers go with the whole palatization speech for this, so I found this explanation much clearer and much more practical for language learners. Not sure linguists would agree with the 'apostrophe' view, but this was very helpful. At speed, Russian speakers tend to swallow syllables, so these are tough things for language learners to pick up on

[julianjohncraft]

Been studying Russian off and on for 50 years. I've seen/heard hundreds of pronunciation tutorials, and I lived with Russians for three years. Never have I heard so brilliantly unique an explanation of these two sound modifiers. The new ideas and subtle insights are deeply novel with a truly effective result. Fact is, many might show up at first for your beauty, but, lord, are they ever in for a surprise when what else they encounter is a very gifted, unprecedented quality of instruction. Thank you for all of us who are applauding.

[Sutatu]

Thank you!
I'm learning Russian in Duolingo and during the letters study I came across this hard/soft sign and I just couldn't understand their purpose. But your explanation was so good I'm only 4min in and I already understand it now!
It is very similar to Japanese combo letters with 'ya, yu, yo', for example a common mistake I hear people say:
Tokiyo (to-ki-yo) when it is suppose to be Tokyo (to-kyo). The 'i' in 'ki' is missing and you don't pronounce it.
Other examples from Japanese: kyou (=today) and not ki-yo-u, jyu (=ten) not ji-yu etc...
Thanks again!

[adamoziris]

DAMN, Thanks a lot, you saved my life. I study English with phonetics and I couldn't just jump to another language and left the phonetics aside. I was in a huge struggle to understand the sound of ь and ъ in Russian words, and you were the one that made it clear and useful. I'm really thankful ❤️

[guitarfliud]

Ohhhh this was so helpful I’m gonna cry 😭 Tysm! I was so confused for so long!

[adityaheriawanputra]

Oh, it's really clear. Thank you so much for the lesson. :))

[AleksanteriAnttila]

Even though I cannot hear the difference in each of those words, this was a big help, thanks!

[marioedson]

Hello Im Brazilian i started to study Russian in this year Im so Lucky i had found this Channel broke my all doubts about Hard Sign and Soft sign. this channel is really helpful you doing a great Job i really enjoying and learning by videos thank for Helping all of us teaching that amazing Language 😊!

[elvirasvensson]

You just make me understand something I never did before. Thank you and you earned a new subscriber💪🏻

[bgobdbj]

I just found this awesome awesome Russian language professor. She’s really good at teaching this beautiful language.

[samirkhoury]

Thank you so much, i've been pretty much confused with the ъ sign, dropped russian and started bulgarian because it has a similar letter yet it's different and i was still confused. Your video pretty much cleared it up.

[dayanbalevski]

In Bulgarian they make more sense than Russian because they have a sound in Bulgarian.

ь sounds like j (aktjor) (Актьор) - a Actor or Сервитьор (Servitjor) - a Waiter
Ъ sounds like 'uh' like in fun in english. It is used like an apostrophe, but it makes a sound between a/o - so it is technically a vowel in Bulgarian.

Дърво (Д'рво) (D'rvo) which is "tree" or "wood" - the Ъ is used a "bridge" vowel to make the sounds softer/fluid between two consonants, and not abrupt.

[Atlantiquasa]

Man....i just have to say from personal testimonial, thank you. Thank you so much for the lessons. When I started and pursued Russian as a single black guy in Miami, my peers and family called me crazy, deeming it as impossible for someone like me. With so much doubt, it fueled the fire needed to keep going, despite the progressive difficulties. Youve lost faith in us as your distant Russian language students, and as a result, i too never lost faith in your teaching skills and my learning skills. In the month of November, im happy to say I will be expressing my absolute gratitude and happiness with having learned Russian through you at a beginners level, and will keep it going. So, from the bottom of my heart, спасибо! Someday i see myself leaving comments purely in Russian thanks to you!

[theplinkerslodge]

Learning Russian is easy, they said...

[HowdyJ]

Gotta' say, this is the first video I've come across that really hit it hoe for me. It's CRAZY subtle, but you made it as clear as I think it could be. Thank you!

[gwho]

3:35 the key explanation that makes sense, without a lot of words that don't make sense.

[romalleyza]

Thank you so much for explaining this! I a have been wondering why ь is found directly after ш in so many verb conjugations when it doesn’t change anything - now I know it’s for historical reasons only.
Вы очень хорошая учителя, большое спасибо, Ольга!

[andrewccf]

You are the best and most beautiful Russian teacher.this vid helped me ^__^