Hard and Soft Consonants in Russian (REVISED)

[@katyagrover7574]

An excellent video (and the entire series). Very professionally done. A pleasure to work with it. I am using it with my learners of Russian. Огромное спасибо!

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо, Катя!

[@Ronpaulians]

@@russiangrammar You sound just like Doctor Grande! wow! 🥰

[@sabart5]

Finally, someone that explains these concepts properly!

[@bikbik5200]

I've been studying Russian for some years, but never properly understood hard and soft (pronunciation wise), always felt overwhelmed by it and would skip past it. I mean, I would digest the grammar rules around it for noun conjugation, but just never really understood. Thank you so much for this video, because it finally makes sense to me.

[@MrSkypelessons]

I have ignored this difference for 30 years, as I have always been completely unable to 'hear' it. Your explanation is the best and most comprehensive I have ever heard - thanks. I recommend that others learn this vital information at the beginning!

[@bikbik5200]

me too. I'm learning Russian for several years and always ignored hard and soft because I couldn't hear it either! Now I am so grateful I watched this. Wish I'd learned it from day 1!

[@kip2796]

Never before have I seen such a good guide. In anything. Ever. Всё отлично!

[@good123g]

Where is the button to tell that you are the bestest Russian teacher on the internet. ? I've been searching for the Hard and soft sound tutorial for a long time

[@victorrascon1716]

This is a very professional video, very well made! Thank you very much, you've surely helped a lot of people!

[@farruhhabibullaev5316]

If I have seen this course early, I would not spend a year learning Russian cases ending, I could use this logic to distinguish Russian cases. It's very professional. Thank you.

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо!

[@TelepathShield]

@@russiangrammar Нет, я благодарю вас!

[@TelepathShield]

I was trying to say something like “No, thank YOU”, did I say it right. (Also your videos are so helpful)

[@Bravo6goindark]

as a serbian tryna learn russian my lord this was extremely helpful

[@angelsjoker8190]

That's probably the most comprehensive and concise explanation I've seen so far. The terms "hard" and "soft" probably just confuse most learners as they don't convey the correct meaning for them because you have these terms used in many languages for different phonological phenomena. In Russian it's given to a phenomenon that native speakers already know and can distinguish. Calling it what it actually is, a palatization and explaining it with a sagital cut of the head makes more sense.

[@russiangrammar]

Thanks! Yes, the standard terms can be confusing. Interestingly, Irish has similar distinctions in palatalization, but they're called "broad" and "slender" (instead of hard & soft).

[@epicepidemic7131]

Ohhhh my goodness. No one ever explained this to me. Now it ALL makes sense. (And by the way, little-did-I-know this is why my Russian accent was good. I instinctively recognized when to "palatalize" my tongue, without ever knowing *why* I was doing that!!)

[@joaoweimar8087]

Oh, shit, finally I could understand that.

[@user-wy1nv8uf1z]

Hey there! As someone who speaks Chinese, I found this chapter particularly challenging. But your explanation totally cleared up all my confusion! I really hope more people discover your channel - you're an amazing instructor!

[@JohnAGoldsmith]

So excellent that you explain that the segment that bears the hard/soft contrast is the consonant, and that the orthography is deceptive in that way.

[@Ronpaulians]

You sound just like Doctor Grande (The famous psychiatrist). You sound like a younger version, actually! Wow! 🥰

[@ief2130]

The only video you need to understand this concept. Hats off ! 👏👏

[@russiangrammar]

Thanks! Though if you're up for a little more, this one completes the set: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXSdIiEa7aGmJY :)

[@IreneDubbelman]

What a great channel, I'm so happy I discovered it. Thank you for the great explanations!

[@gokhanpazarcik4531]

When I started learning Russian I didn't take this part seriously and then I struggled when it came to Padejs. So I would say this is a very important topic and needs to be taken seriously.

[@sleepingfunction]

This is the best video on the hard and soft consonant.

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! :)

[@kweenk5072]

I’m sure I’ll get this if I watch it a few more (hundred) times 😳😳🤞🏼

[@thenalivingstone2219]

Wow! This video is so well made. It makes a confusing topic easy to understand! Thank you so much!

[@kasperholck5928]

I have watched a couple of your videos, if anybody deserves a sub, fuck it's you my man. This is outstanding quality material, and your pronunciation is absolutely godlike.

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! ))

[@ThisIsBeshir]

Everything is clear , good job !

[@TahaCodes]

Excellent video! Спасибо!

[@kiara171]

very clear, thank you for this precious video

[@fredericopires7659]

Very, very, very good!!! Thank you soo much for this examples and explication!!

[@sarajablon]

Wow, thank you. Finally I understand this!!

[@russiangrammar]

You're welcome! 🙂

[@lifemanager6865]

I've almost got it. I need to watch it a few more times

[@shrishti6617]

so brilliantly explained

[@MwdbHsdj]

For me the Soft N sounds like the Ñ in my native language Spanish

[@theUroshman]

Wow! You've done an amazing job explaning otherwise (for me at least) very baffling issue in Russian pronunciation.

[@жизненный_опыт]

I found this video very informative and helpful. Thank you

[@catherinecollon9545]

Clear presentation. Very helpful.

[@amado5490]

Excellent video. The only thing I did not get is the difference between a hard and a soft з. In my mind they sound the same.

[@babakbabak5329]

Clear explanation! Thanks.

[@AK-yc1sw]

Appreciate the effort 👌

[@perloofficial]

Thank you very much for your fantastic and very useful video!

[@mohammedtouati3855]

Welcome Back!

[@hamidrezaseilabadi839]

That is simply GREAT!

[@ethanhinman5755]

This is awesome! Thank you.

[@bigsponk7849]

such an amazing video. exactly what i was looking for. thank you

[@ariannadesantis5192]

thank you very much, finally i understand it!

[@ryori4176]

Excellent

[@nnr75]

Every softening vowel is a hardening vowel with й before it. я = йа е = йэ ё = йо и = йы ю = йу

[@russiangrammar]

Careful, this approach can cause confusion. The letters я, е, ё, ю are pronounced with a [j] (like English yard, German ja) after a vowel: мóю [mо́ju], or at the beginning of a word: юг [juk]; but after a consonant, they represent a soft consonant + a vowel sound, without a distinct [j] sound: сели [s'el'i]. Also, keep in mind that ы doesn't occur after a soft consonant like й [j] - more details on that are in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3_Tapmgpdmajck 🙂

[@liarnn3767]

I felt like an idiot trying to do the soft n and ending pronouncing ñ (I'm a native spanish speaker), after struggling a lot it was that simple xd now it's much more clear to me, thanks a lot (:

[@ryori4176]

Better than my teacher at University.

[@datbubby]

very helpful :)

[@AB-ni8cv]

Great video! Thanks a lot!

[@FedericoFavaro]

Awesome! Thank you very much!

[@GortTheSerf1]

Thank you so much or rather спасибо

[@НадеждаСивульская-ч5э]

Супер!

[@chrismh4683]

Very nice video :thumbsup:

[@navil2137]

Thank you , this is very helpful, i have question, how you create this clip? What software?

[@russiangrammar]

I'm on a Mac so I use Keynote for slides, and TextEdit to write a script. I'm trying to improve my sound (on earlier videos it's kind of bad) so now I record audio in Reaper & do light processing in iZotope RX8, then put it all together in Screenflow. Thumbnail images are made in Sketch.

[@jamesconrad3336]

Confused at 7:25. It says before a vowel, use vowel letter а э ы о у. But the examples all show a vowel after a consonant, not another vowel. Also there's only one vowel, so how do you place a vowel before a vowel (which requires two vowels) when there's only one vowel in the word? Otherwise, an excellent video! I'm almost getting it now (once I can understand the issue I posted here.)

[@russiangrammar]

Привет James! Put slightly differently: to write a hard consonant that's followed by a vowel sound, use one of these vowel letters (а, э, ы, о, у) after the consonant. This is how we show that the first sounds in так, бок, вы are hard, not soft. That's the main trick of the system: the hardness/softness of a consonant can be shown by the choice of a following vowel letter, not the consonant letter itself.

[@jamesconrad3336]

@@russiangrammar Thank you so much for the reply! Unless I'm misunderstanding how it's written, I might suggest a revision to that specific slide per the verbiage I described.

[@russiangrammar]

Yes, upon reflection I might make a change there next time. Thanks for the feedback!

[@luckyluckydog123]

Excellent video. BTW, why not call я е и ё ю "softening vowels"?

[@NoahSteckley]

That's a perfect question.

[@russiangrammar]

Some do (I've also heard "soft-series vowels"). I avoid the term because the vowel sounds don't make the consonants soft - the consonants are soft on their own. Note how when you take the ending from гуся, for example, you get гусь - the [s] is inherently soft, even without the vowel sound. Я, е, и, ё, ю, and the soft sign just *show* that the preceding consonant is soft. That distinction probaby isn't too important for beginners but it does explain a few things later, for example, when you add a prefix ending in a hard consonant (like раз-) to a verb that starts with и, the и doesn't 'soften' the з; instead, the pronunciation of и changes to sound like ы: раз+ искать > разыскать. Again, it's not crucial for beginners, but there's more on that in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3_Tapmgpdmajck

[@luckyluckydog123]

@@russiangrammar yes, I see your point: "softening vowels" seems to imply a sort of causal relation between the vowel and the preceding consonant, as if the consonant were soft 'because' of the following vowel. To be honest, I've had a discussion of this kind on the role of 'i' in Polish (which is also considered a 'soft' consonant), and at least some native speakers do indeed seem to think causal terms (ie: the consonant is soft 'because' it is followed by 'i'). I guess this is the way they are taught at school, and it just sticks. I objected that we from the point of view of logic might argument in an opposite way, namely we could say that it is the vowel which is softened (from 'y' to 'i', or from ы to и in Russian) by the preceding soft consonant, but my interlocutor wasn't at all convinced. Apparently causality in languages propagates from left to right, but not the other way round :) How about something along the lines of "soft-signalling vowels", "soft-accompanying vowels", "soft partner(ing) vowel"?

[@jamesh625]

A trick that I just found out about. Try to smile while saying the consonant (+ vowel). Spreading your lips forces your tongue up a bit and seems to force palatalisation to be performed. I've tried it out and it seems to work even for "difficult" consonants like Р (Russian R). Note that this trick was aimed at English speakers so I'm not sure if it works for speakers of other languages. I'm not sure if this is an "authentic" way of producing palatalisation --- I doubt native Russian speakers also perform lip spreading while palatalising, since palatalisation theoretically only involves tongue arching towards the hard palate... Perhaps the Prof Curtis could weigh in: is lip spreading concomitant with palatalisation in native Russian speech?

[@russiangrammar]

If it's helpful at first, that's fine - though I haven't heard of this as a feature of native speakers' pronunciation, and I'm not sure if it'd be helpful for palatalizing a consonant before [u], where the lips need to be rounded (as in тюлень).

[@miezmiuremiezutschi414]

what about examples like премьера, интервью, возмьем etc. Are the soft signs here just redundancies or would it be possible to have a hard consonant before an 'е'?

[@russiangrammar]

They're not redundant, since the sequence of consonant letter + ь + (я/е/и/ё/ю) is how we spell a soft consonant, followed by [j] (or "y-glide," as in English 'yard' or German 'ja') and a vowel sound: лью [lʲju]. The letter е normally indicates that the preceding consonant is soft - белая [bʲɛlǝjǝ] - though in some loan words, some consonants (especially д т н) may be pronounced hard even before the letter е, so интервью [intɛrvʲju] with hard т (see fonetika.su/?word=интервью). Note that the soft sign in возьмём comes before the м - so it's [vazʲmʲom]. :)

[@kibarfeyzo301]

Thanks.

[@achilles01]

abi ogrenebildin mi rusca

[@kibarfeyzo301]

@@achilles01 öğrenmenin sonu yok. Cabalamaya devam 😊

[@xaviercruzado3860]

If this is so, why is there a soft sign in the conjugation of the verb to kill in russian, following already soft vowels - убью́, убьёшь, убьёт, убьём, убьёте, убью́т. Why is there a soft sign if all the vowels that follow each б make them already soft. What is the purpose of the soft sign in such a case ?

[@russiangrammar]

This is how we spell the sequence of a soft consonant + [j] (like English *yard, German *ja) + a vowel sound. I've just posted an updated version of my video with details on this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqqmYmylgM5pe6c :)

[@thinkpad20]

Quick question, you said that “ш” is always hard, but then why do we frequently see “шь” for example in ты conjugation? Is it pronounced the same as just “ш” would be? If so why do they bother?

[@russiangrammar]

Many centuries ago ш was a soft (palatalized) sound, but it came to be pronounced hard over time. The spelling hasn't ever caught up, though, so we just have to remember that it's always hard.

[@thinkpad20]

@@russiangrammar I see, interesting, so for example “думаешь” is phonetically the same as “думаеш”. That’s good to know!

[@neilstelter3965]

How do we palatalize "сь" if the sound "с" requires that air flows above the tongue and through the teeth? Therefore, the tongue is unable to touch the palate of the mouth while pronouncing "с".

[@russiangrammar]

The tongue doesn't need to actually touch the palate; it's just raised toward the palate, so there is still room for the air to flow above the tongue - it's just more constricted. If the tongue did completely block the air flow at the palate you'd have a palatal stop, which some languages (Czech, Hungarian) do have, but not Russian.

[@neilstelter3965]

@@russiangrammar Okay. Thank you!

[@justanormalyoutubeuser3868]

6:49 so how do you pronunce ш in мышь? Ш is supposed to never be soft while ь is suppose to soften the previous consonant.

[@russiangrammar]

Ш is always pronounced as a hard consonant, even when it's followed by ь (or и, е, ё, for that matter). It's one of the relatively few inconsistencies in the Russian spelling system.

[@justanormalyoutubeuser3868]

@@russiangrammar Thank you very much!

[@МихаилЯгола]

Я этого даже не замечал, офигеть 💀

[@Nissan-Erugurando]

Как выразить переход между мягким и твёрдым звуками? Тотья [ tot'ya] ≠ Тотъя [totya] ≠ Тотя[tot'a'] ≠ Тьётя [t'yota'] ≠ Тъётя [ Toyota'].

[@НектоНеизвестный-в1р]

Вы имеете ввиду как записать транскрипцию? Если да, то нужно смотреть алфавит МФА. Я видел транскрипцию русских слов на Вики словаре.

[@alexandermarkov300]

You should have shown a difference between [nʲ] and [nj].

[@Classified0]

Wait if a letter doesn't have a soft nor hard sign or vowels after it how should I pronounce it?

[@Classified0]

Like the word Волк, The Л and К were hard without even the need for a hard vowels

[@russiangrammar]

Yes, if there's no vowel letter or hard sign after a consonant, it's pronounced as a hard consonant - as in волк, лодка, том, в, к, etc.

[@Classified0]

@@russiangrammar then what's the point of hard vowels and sign? Like I can just look for soft vowels or sign and if there's none then it will be immediately a hard letter

[@russiangrammar]

In modern Russian (after 1918), the hard sign is only used after a prefix that ends in a hard consonant; for example, объехать (hard б followed by [je] as in 'yes') as opposed to обед (soft б followed by [e] as in 'bet'). Here's a video with more details, and examples of what this sounds like: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXSdIiEa7aGmJY

[@Classified0]

@@russiangrammar what about the vowels А, О, У, Ы, and Э. What's the point of them? Isn't like the "default" sound for Russian letters is hard? Shouldn't I just look if there's a soft vowels or soft sign to see if I need to pronounce the soft version of that letter? Hope you got what I'm trying to say.

[@fatphobicandproud9003]

How do you palatalize an alveolar tap "R"? 😢

[@russiangrammar]

Pretty much like palatalizing other consonants, by raising the blade of the tongue toward the palate; I think when I do it, it's not the actual tip of my tongue that contacts the alveolar ridge, it's more just a bit back from the tip toward the blade of the tongue.

[@МихаилЯгола]

Даже наши не все умеют его произносить, довольно сложный звук

[@VerticalBlank]

So what is the hard sign for?

[@russiangrammar]

Briefly - in modern Russian you'll see the hard sign between a prefix that ends in a hard consonant, and a syllable that starts with a 'y' (as in 'yard') sound (объехать, объём, объявить). For a more complete explanation, with audio of what that combination sounds like, see this video, "More on Soft and Hard Signs" - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXSdIiEa7aGmJY

[@VerticalBlank]

@@russiangrammar Thanks

[@sunrisewolfy]

Just me in my kitchen pronouncing ш и щ and barely hearing a difference. 😅

[@russiangrammar]

For ш, try rounding your lips a little, and make sure your tongue is rather low in your mouth; for щ, raise your tongue - it's almost as if the ш has a lower pitch and the щ has a higher pitch 'shhh' sound (though you're not using your vocal cords). If you feel like a deep dive, Kimberly (Кира) DiMattia's online course is recommended (www.unlockingrussianpronunciation.org). Keep practicing, you'll get it!

[@МихаилЯгола]

У меня также в вашем языке было, я не чувствовал разницу между словами sheep и ship, но потом стал отличать ваши слова 💀

[@user82564]

I have such a hard time with soft сь

[@denessy5446]

Зачем я это смотрю 💀

[@МихаилЯгола]

А я зачем 💀

[@baalzagoroth4693]

I will never understand this.

[@russiangrammar]

Is there a particular aspect you're feeling stuck on? :)

[@caterinadelgalles8783]

5.52 '...If you are not distinguishing between hard and soft sound you will definitely have an accent in your Russian...' and proceeds NOT to give us hard and soft sound comparison, which is why I came here. Thumb down from a follow language teacher.

[@russiangrammar]

Caterina, you can find comparisons of hard and soft consonant sounds at 3:57, and 5:42. :)

[@НектоНеизвестный-в1р]

Просто слушайте звук "Й" (который произносится одновременно с согласной) и всё =)

[@TinaKGreene]

@@НектоНеизвестный-в1р оооо вот оно что! Пытаюсь объяснить ученице, но никак не могла уловить, что именно меняется при переходе с Ф на ФЬ - кроме потока воздуха, но это слишком абстрактно. Кажется, действительно, Й - это наш бро :) Спасибо!

[@НектоНеизвестный-в1р]

@@TinaKGreene посмотрите информацию о термине "палатализация". В русском языке мягкие согласные возникли потому что краткая "И" (которая писалась как "Ь"), так сказать "заехала" на согласую и стала произноситься одновременно с ней. К сожалению на Ютубе нет профессионального объяснения (по крайней мере я не находил), но есть канал PhoeneticFanatic, там автор учит русскоязычных НЕ произносить мягкие согласные в английском, возможно это поможет вам наоборот научиться произносить это (хотя этому мало времени уделено, где-то в одном видео про согласные). Кстати, в английском есть редко мягкие, типа Хьюман, Хьюстон, Ютьюб, Нью-Йорк (правда здесь везде лишняя "Й" после мягкой согласной и вот её разучиться говорить - проблема для них). Кстати, какой родной язык у вашей ученицы?

[@TinaKGreene]

@@НектоНеизвестный-в1р Да, я знаю о палатализации, так как сама лингвист, но русский как иностранный начала преподавать недавно и разбираюсь кое-как сама. У нее родной язык немецкий. Не со всеми согласными есть проблемы, но вот "кровь" она произносит как [коф], и, если с сочетанием /кр/ еще можно как-то разобраться, то ф/фь идет туго. Также она не различает звуки /с/ и /з/, так как в немецком там что-то между. Но здесь у меня получается хорошо объяснить, она просто забывает. Канал этот знаю, спасибо :) Действительно, пусть просто говорит /крофи/ для начала, попробуем так.

[@gokhanpazarcik4531]

When I started learning Russian I didn't take this part seriously and then I struggled when it came to Padejs. So I would say this is a very important topic and needs to be taken seriously.