Hard and Soft Consonants in Russian

[@HaohmaruHL]

Dunno how I ended up on this part of youtube at 2am watching russian lessons while being russian myself. But I stayed and still had a blast watching your videos because at this point being an adult for me russian language just works and I never think about how or why it works. If people would have asked me why this or why that I would have problems trying to explain it, lol. So you actually helped me remember some rules and other things. You teach very well and your lessons are so comprehensive. Beats me why you don't have much more subs. Nice job!

[@russiangrammar]

I'm probably better at teaching than I am at marketing... though I'm trying to get better at both. So feel free to share! ;)

[@cartic.t]

This was immensely helpful, none of the instructions in my self-study books were quite as lucid. Thanks for uploading this! :-)

[@theyeetomyhaw2884]

Did this make me think Russian will be hard to learn? YES Do i wanna learn Russian even more now? YES

[@russiangrammar]

I love this comment :)

[@radix133]

Краткая, простая и прямая. Просто так, как мне нравится!

[@ИринаСмирнова-у4е4е]

Прекрасный учитель! Очень хорошее объяснение!

[@russiangrammar]

Answering Sara below (youtube isn't showing me a reply button by her comment): Very often we'll need to add various types of endings to Russian nouns. These endings will either be, or start with, vowel sounds; but there are basically two ways to spell each basic vowel sound. One set of vowel letters is used after hard consonants: а, э, ы, о, and у all show that a preceding consonant is hard. Other vowel letters (я, е, и, ё, ю) show that a preceding consonant is soft. For example, how do we add an ending that sounds like 'u' (as in food, suit, rude) to words like студент or учитель? Студент ends in a hard consonant, so we'll spell the ending with the letter у, which can be used after hard consonants. Учитель ends in a soft consonant, so adding -у won't work; instead, we'll use the letter -ю, which can follow soft consonants: учителю. Is this what you were wondering about? Feel free to post follow-up questions!

[@HuckleberryHim]

What I have never seen explained is how palatalization can really be articulated if it is on a word-final consonant. With some sounds, like /t/, I can still palatalize them (it becomes almost like a "ch" sound), but it seems virtually impossible, or at least imperceptible, for sounds like /m/. It seems you really need a proceeding vowel for the palatalization to be clear, in which case, is this even something that native speakers notice?

[@russiangrammar]

(Do you mean 'it seems you need a *following* vowel'..?) It's true that the difference may be easier to perceive for some sounds than for others, especially for learners at first. But native speakers do notice these things. In some cases, the softness or hardness of a consonant can have a subtle effect on a preceding vowel *sound* (not letter!): for example, the vowel sound in лес sounds much like the vowel in English "yes;" the vowel sound in здесь sounds more like the vowel in English "hey." That may help people perceive the difference between word-final с and сь.

[@HuckleberryHim]

I find it very hard to believe that anyone can perceive the difference between word-final с and сь; these sounds seem identical in every respect without a vowel after them to make the secondary articulation clear. The effects on preceding vowels seems to be the only giveaway, otherwise

[@russiangrammar]

Olga Jarrell's excellent Amazing Russian channel has a good video with a focus on these differences; a number of her examples give the hard/soft contrast in final position. Highly recommended! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZfCeGVqiNKng7s

[@egorbasist9532]

@@HuckleberryHim think about the difference between m in "milk" and m in "more". and s in "silk" and s in "soft" in English. Of course it´s not exactly the same, that but i hope you should still get the idea. And yes Russians clearly distinguish them.

[@VladimirsSilins]

And another tricky part is with some double consonants. In *"ст"*, *"сд"*, *"зд"*, *"нт"*, *"нд"*, *"нч"* and *"нщ"* first consonant always follows the second in softness/hardness (as it was said "ч" and "щ" are always soft): стяг [с'т'яг] - стог [стог] сдать [сдат'] - сделать [с'д'елат'] здесь [з'д'ес'] - здание [здан'ие] квинта [кв'инта] - квинтет[кв'ин'т'ет] кандалы [кандалы] - кандидат [кан'д'идат] пончик [пон'ч'ик] гонщик [гон'щ'ик]

[@russiangrammar]

Yes - along with assimilation of voicing, which is very important, softness assimilation can also occur, though less reliably. As Vladimirs points out, it's more common for dental sounds like з, с, н to soften before a soft consonant; also when the two sounds are articulated in the same place in the mouth. This can also influence a preceding vowel - listen for how the vowel sound in есть [jes't'] is pronounced with the tongue a bit higher in the mouth (in anticipation of the following soft сть), than in the word ест [jɛst]. Those who really want the details can check p. 68 of William Hamilton's 'Introduction to Russian Phonology and Word Structure,' a nice, accessible resource. Больше об этом на русском можно найти здесь: www.hi-edu.ru/e-books/xbook107/01/part-023.htm

[@НектоНеизвестный-в1р]

Всё таки мы говорим Здать, Зделать, через "С" произносить очень неудобно =)

[@VladimirsSilins]

@@НектоНеизвестный-в1р Тут речь скорее про палатилизацию, а не про шумовые или не шумовые получаются звуки в парах согласных. А "сдать" и "сделать" так и пишутся через "с", соответственно и произносятся. Да, иногда "з" оглушается полностью, иногда становится "слабее" как в "здорово"/"здоровье"? Это даже не вопрос удобства.

[@НектоНеизвестный-в1р]

@@VladimirsSilins что значит в слове "сдать" произносится как пишется? Я же написал, что там З, а не С.

[@TelepathShield]

@@russiangrammar I found out about you today and am subscribed now, your videos are so helpful Спасибо большое!

[@georgeimmanuel3992]

I fell in love with his voice😭😭

[@ЙорданГригоров-ъ7е]

I am Bulgarian and we don't have the soft - hard Consonants distinction but unlike native English speakers I have no problem hearing and pronouncing the hard - soft consonants in russian. I have no idea why.

[@amnbvcxz8650]

I can speak with Bulgarian accent and can even confuse Bulgarians because i’ve learned some phrases, but not enough yet. It’s just natural and easy to imitate Bulgarian pronounciation and voicing patterns, like for you it was with Russian even though the languages obviously sound quite differently. I was born native russian speaker

[@ruxxey]

This is such a good tutorial! Thank you so much!

[@1337Unlucky]

Yes, he is really good at explaining this.

[@eleonora2942]

Thank you so much! In 3 years of Russian lessons at university I didn't ear a word about this topic by my teachers! That's a shame.

[@natal6813]

:-0 !!! What did they teach you for three years?!

[@russianwitheugene]

Отличное видео. Для тех, кто говорит по-английски, подходит идеально.

[@robert_wigh]

Thank you very much for making this video, now I understand hard and soft consonants. Благодарю!

[@vegamario7543]

Holy mother of jesus this is what I call a bloody perfect explanation, ladies and gentlemen. As a lad who has just started learning this beautiful language I must say that I really enjoyed your lecture and found it quite informative and helpful. I subscribed to your channel, just to demonstrate my gratitude to you, very kind sir. Hope you have an awesome day!

[@russiangrammar]

So glad you enjoyed it, thanks for the kind words! If you feel like reviewing sometime, be sure to see the updated version: basically the same explanation, but with better sound & updated graphics. :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-7lXpnYslsY80

[@feeny9196]

Finally!! I'm planning on studying abroad in a year or two, and I could not get an understandable explanation of the hard and soft deal. Thank you!!

[@michaelandre9350]

I am so glad I found this video - thank you very much, Dr Ford. After watching this, I will try to be more diligent in my pronunciation of Russian words.

[@ClassicalPan]

A very helpful introduction to soft consonants. I mastered "ль" a long time ago, but never really understood how to make any of the other consonants soft. I didn't realize that the physical movement required to make "ль" is the same for all the others.

[@SelectCopy]

Thanks so much for this video. Was the most useful source I've found on this topic so far.

[@normskilawrence1033]

Thanks for the tips. Even though you uploaded this video almost 4 years ago it's still extremely useful!

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! By the way, there's a recently updated version of this video at kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-7lXpnYslsY80 :)

[@shivitwaru4949]

Прямая и косвенная речь, I am guessing alot of people would be happy if u made a video on this topic.

[@graymcdougall5156]

Fantastically explained. Thank you very much.

[@JohanBesterphotos]

Thanks, your pronunciation is crystal clear! I keep on coming back to 04:00, just to make sure I get it right.

[@adarkerlight]

I can read Russian phonetically, but I hate the hard / soft thing and for my purposes, I just ignore it. But your video finally explained it to me in a way I undersand. Still, I'm reminded of the French 70, 80, and 90 numbers, which are designed to be ridiculously silly and overly-complicated. Someone was obviously bored when inventing some of these rules. Oh, I also think ю should be pronounced "USS Enterprise" :D

[@SuulDevil]

I know it's 6 years later and probably you won't ever read it, but still ! You made me laught because yes, some of grammar rules in French are really specials ahah, but still there is a bit of logic here ! (70 = soixante-dix which is litteraly soixante 60 - dix 10 (60 + 10), 80 = quatre-vingt which is litteraly quatre 4 - vingt 20 (4*20), 90 = quatre-vingt-dix which is litteraly quatre-vingt 80 - dix 10 (80+10) which is based on the same logic as 70). Anyway, yes, guys who came up with this idea were propably bored of making things easy ahahah.

[@abcaines]

Mind. Blown.

[@owtena]

I'm Russian, what am I doing here? :DDDD But it's funny to watch. Never thought about consonants and how to explain correct pronunciation :D Wow! It's looks really complicated :DDD

[@Gurra88]

I'm Swedish and this is difficult as hell. xD

[@DeadlyWhisper]

Да. Хахаха 😂

[@SNVampyre]

У нас это в школе проходят вообще-то, в первом классе...

[@michaelmarchand4812]

How do I write "your perfect in every way" in Russian

[@peppersgone5044]

your english accent is perfect! Unless you are a native english speaker, and just have a perfect russian accent. I honestly can't tell because that's how good it is.

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! I grew up in California, so English is my native language. I try to sound natural, but also clear enough for non-native speakers of English, so I'm not always sure how that comes out... :)

[@russianwitheugene]

Very good video, by the way. Almost every English speaking student faces the problem of hard /soft consonants, at least in my teaching experience. Although there are plenty of exercises, it's still hard for them to master this phonetic aspect. I showed this video to one of my students and he was like, ' oh, right, I know this stuff, but I still CAN'T do that!'. I am convinced that to some extent the knowledge can help, but only everyday practice will help them to overcome the difficulty. Anyway, thanks for such a useful content.

[@a.l.s.6982]

I really needed this breakdown because I was having trouble understanding this concept in class. Thanks!

[@darkglac3on350]

This was very helpful! I've always struggled to pronounce the soft consonants

[@Juan-Hdez]

Very useful. Thank you!

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! Note that there's an updated version with better sound here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-7lXpnYslsY80 🙂

[@user-ez1me7kf1e]

Thank you! I have been trying to learn from a friend from Russia and always blew off the hard and soft sounds - mostly because I can't detect them without a lot of concentration. But your video helps me understand their importance.

[@josei.alcantara4135]

Большое спасибо!!!

[@brandonsmith1198]

I really enjoyed this video I really like the written accent in Russian

[@jaimebenito620]

What a great explanation! Thanks!

[@evedov5440]

What a great resource! Thank you so much!

[@MetalxBeat]

It was very helpful, thanks! I am not currently learning Russian because of a lack of time, but I started with the alphabet and some begginer vocabulary and it's a beautifull language

[@ErikaCastro4TruckerLife]

you videos are amazingly helpful!!!!

[@Starfighter9397]

You sir are awesome!! What a great lesson! Thank you!

[@gabogc]

Finally i got it!!! thanks a loooot!

[@alfredoquinones120]

No body has explained it better.

[@OscarTartalo]

Very useful. I understood many things. Thank you very much!.

[@latestlindsey5620]

Question! Are you Russian or an English speaker? I honestly cannot tell, because I've never met someone with such an excellent grasp of both languages . These videos are absolutely fantastic and clear! I love the way you explain things! Ps I actually was so stressed trying to learn the verbs of motion I smacked myself in the face one day. My Russian tutor finally sent me your videos and now it all makes so much more sense! СПАСИБО!!!

[@zacharymontana9911]

Очень хорошо! 😁 Спасибо!

[@joetacoma4027]

Excellent video! молодец! I understood about 1/3 of it, which means I'll watch it at least another ten times.

[@russiangrammar]

Keep listening closely and keep practicing, you'll get it!

[@joetacoma4027]

Russian grammar Thank you for your encouragement. It's a beautiful language, and this video is very helpful. My учительница says my pronunciation is very good, for an American. LOL

[@MiguelMejia]

What a fantastic video! Thanks so much for the help))

[@ladyycartman3845]

Fantastic video, so useful! Thank you so much!

[@gambarusso]

Great explanation. Thank you.

[@russiangrammar]

Спасибо! Note that there's an updated version with better sound here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJ-7lXpnYslsY80 🙂

[@dmacdougall61]

Thank you so much. This was super clear and helpful

[@Cosmalano]

Very good, thanks!

[@russiangrammar]

Glad I am if helpful the videos are!

[@mafuyuiskw3576]

我的天 你声音太好听了 学俄语成为一种享受 而且还学到了很多！很有帮助！😆😆

[@russiangrammar]

谢谢!😁

[@AnneMarieTSas]

Very clear!!! Thank you!

[@neilclay5835]

Excellent, thanks. That really cleared it up for me.

[@dnbfreestyleskater]

these explanations are great. thanks a lot.

[@ThomasTheNorgeScone]

I am not exactly learning Russian, however I really enjoyed this lesson! Fascinating. I do plan on learning Russian later in life sometime, however. Keep up the great work!

[@juvnal]

did you ever learn?

[@josebargnani]

Great! This is really great!

[@1337Unlucky]

Amazing video, you are the best explaining.

[@christoskatarachias2450]

Your videos are amazing man and thanks very much for spending the time to create and upload for all of us trying to learn the Russian language. Without any intention to come as ungrateful, would you be so kind to sort the videos in Lessons as I do not know where to start from? Once again my sincere thanks and looking forward to hearing from you

[@russiangrammar]

Thanks for your kind words! As for sorting: keep in mind that these videos are intended as a supplement, not a complete course. It's really best to find a course or book with a structured path laid out by an experienced teacher. A good option is mezhdunami.org, a free online course for beginners that includes audio, dialogues, cultural information, etc. When you come to a section on grammar (often marked Немного о языке in a lesson), you can come back to this channel for additional explanations and examples. But your comment does have me considering whether to include suggested links to mezhdunami.org with these videos, or some kind of cross index for mezhdunami.org and these videos on my site at tips4russian.com. Спасибо!

[@christoskatarachias2450]

Russian grammar thank you for you reply my friend. I will definitely have a look at your link. In any case, the teaching structure in your videos have helped me a lot and I am grateful for that.

[@kaIawin]

I am just starting to learn Russian, or rather picking up on it again. I am a beginner and this is really difficult but listing to Russian songs have helped me in a way, thanks for this video!

[@russiangrammar]

Listening to songs is a great way to get used to these new sounds. Russian can be challenging, but it's worth it! :)

[@kaIawin]

@@russiangrammar the songs I listen to are folk songs and unfortunately I cannot find the lyrics to any of them!

[@russiangrammar]

Have you tried googling the name of the song and текст? A lot of song lyrics are out there.. or let me know which song you'd like to find, maybe someone here can help. :)

[@kaIawin]

@@russiangrammar I have! This video displays the title of the song , kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGqplIWqZrKspdE I tried searching in that way but it does not come up!

[@Margrave_of_Brandenburg]

Thank you, this helps a lot!!! :D

[@shaddyhacker]

This is an exceptional video!

[@Burak-pl1jl]

I appreciate your videos, they helped me a lot! Keep up the good work! :)

[@anotaelmail]

FANTASTIC! thanks!!

[@russiangrammar]

Hello Kira, I drew the images based on standard ways of presenting the tongue position.. you can find more such diagrams in Jones & Ward's 'The Phonetics of Russian,' or just google 'phonetics consonants' and choose images. Thanks for the feedback!

[@killerbanjo]

Fantastic clear video. Subbed for sure! Thank you.

[@sragland314]

That helped a lot. Спасибо!

[@JishinimaTidehoshi]

Very well explained, thanks for making this)))

[@russiangrammar]

Responding to Artjom, below: it's true that ч and щ always palatalized, and ц and ш are unpalatalized; but there are other differences between them as well. Ц is closer to 'ts' in English 'hats' - it's been described in Russian as альвеолярная, апикальная (alveolar, apical), and ч is more like 'ch' in English 'cheese' - альвео-палатальная, ламинальная (alveo-palatal, laminal). Ш and щ are more similar to each other (except for palatalization!); many also describe щ as typically held a bit longer than ш.

[@НектоНеизвестный-в1р]

Щ=Шь (чисто историческая причина, что букву Щ не удалили из языка, хотя её можно писать как Шь).

[@snehamusiclover1]

it was so helpful thanku so much for posting it

[@Ynysmydwr]

Very interesting video. Just one problem, however. The way you say "hard [n]" makes it sound like "hard [m]" (to my ear, at least)!

[@kurtpilsen9390]

Wow, this really helped me. Thanks a lot! :)

[@LiradeTerpsichore]

Great teacher, please could you find time to make another video with the other "handfull of these" as clear as you did N,D,T,L,S and Z ? Thank you before hand. Regards

[@Narciss99]

thanks for the great videos

[@russiangrammar]

Yes, I plan to post more short videos in coming months - certainly voiced vs. voiceless consonants (at the ends of words, assimilation, etc) will be worth discussing. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@maiioalemdar6963]

Thanks , dear ♡♥

[@sarai9076]

Hi, that's a really good video! Good job :) But, I have to say that I didn't understand the last part when you talk about why these signs are important, in particular the one about the spelling :) could you please explain me this one? It would be amazing, thanks! :)

[@Adde-hy7wx]

IT'S Волк! I have missed you!!!

[@figvlogs6259]

I'm having difficulty pronouncing the difference between ест and есть. I've nailed ест but I still have a lot of trouble saying есть. It sounds like Russian speakers sort of say the "ch" sound at the end of есть.

[@russiangrammar]

There's a slight fricative quality in ть that may remind you of 'ch' (ч), but at the end of 'ch' ч, your tongue is in the position for щ, with the sides of the tongue raised a bit. For ть, though, the middle of the tongue is closer to the gum ridge behind the front teeth, almost as if you were going to go on to say сь. Try listening for this same sound in брать, утюг, тюлень. :)

[@mihanich]

in "есть" you have to pronounce "есьть", i.e. the "с" has to be soft too, because it's followed by a soft "т".

[@fiksikpiksel6326]

как только дяденька сказал -" мягкий знак", я сразу понял что дяденька наш.

[@natal6813]

;-)))

[@cipriannemet519]

Great videos, great explanations. I´ve just subscribed you. Thank you!

[@jopo2122]

I still have a lot of trouble with the soft sign especially in words that have "ль" in it.. Please, more tips on how to pronounce it clearly and be able to recognize the difference?

[@abakalidis]

Большое спаcибо! This was really helpful, I was searching for a clear and concise explanation like this. I even put the main points down in my notepad for later reference. Just for completeness shake, where does the Russian hard sign "ъ" come into play in all that?

[@russiangrammar]

There's a video for that! :) 'More on Soft and Hard Signs' - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXSdIiEa7aGmJY

[@kiradowney]

This is a great video! Thank you so much and please post more!!! Where do you find your phonetic diagrams? (Maps of tongue placement)

[@YakubPrintmaker]

Could you possibly make a video about the nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative and vocative (if the Russian language has these) noun and adjective forms and give examples like you did at 7:36 for each case?

[@russiangrammar]

Hi Y Shal, check the playlists - there's one for genitive, and several other videos that touch on accusative, dative, prepositional, and instrumental. I try not to make long videos that cover entire charts of endings, so you may have to watch a few shorter ones instead!

[@DaveTomasetti]

exellent! really helpfull!

[@CagatayKvothe]

thank you

[@areith]

thanks! that was very helpful. do you know a document, video or picture depicting shape of tongue in all softened consonants? the one you showed here is current for N but judging by other videos and common sense it looks many other consonants should be pronounced in another way.

[@russiangrammar]

'The Phonetics of Russian' by Daniel Jones & Dennis Ward has many very, very detailed descriptions, with illustrations for most sounds too. It's not cheap on Amazon but you may find it in a library, or portions of it on books.google.com.

[@brianlewis275]

Weetje, dit flimpje is heel goed. Dank U wel hiervoor

[@russiangrammar]

+Brian Lewis Graag gedaan!

[@robert_wigh]

+Russian grammar Do you speak Dutch?

[@russiangrammar]

Robert Andersson Een beetje wel, maar niet zo goed. I knew some a while ago - maybe lower intermediate level? - but I'm pretty rusty now.

[@agustinlawtaro]

¡Excelente video! Muy bien explicado. Muchas gracias.

[@adarkerlight]

6:57 isn't that "mirror"? Tarkovsky titled his (most) autobiographical film that.

[@XtalProject]

Thanks - extremely clear - [ as regards - утюг - are you going to cover voiced/voiceless consonants at the end of words ? ]

[@hyn__als]

Learning Russian is exhilarating to me 🫶🏻

[@russiangrammar]

It's a challenging, rewarding, sometimes intense, long-term journey! 😀

[@russianforself-learners4071]

great job!

[@nuriavivo5601]

Thanks for uploading your video, it was SO helpful! However, I do have a question: why is it that the word "компьютер" is written with the soft sign if there's a "ю"? Doesn't it make the "п" softer? Thanks so much!

[@russiangrammar]

When the letter ю follows a soft sign, we hear a more distinct 'y' (as in 'you', or 'j' as in German 'ja') between the soft consonant and the vowel sound; so I assume this spelling is used to reproduce that 'y' in the English word. There's more on about this topic in this video, "More on Hard & Soft Signs": kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXSdIiEa7aGmJY I've heard native speakers of Russian asking about when to add a soft sign in foreign words, so you're not the only one to wonder!

[@reaver8338]

I've been trying to learn Russian for over a year but there's just so much to memorise to me it felt like English was so easy but Russian just seems so much more complicated.

[@russiangrammar]

Russian can seem complicated - OK, sometimes it *is* complicated :) . But it absolutely can be learned. Try to enroll in a course, or if you're working on your own, Nicholas Brown's New Penguin Russian Course is very good - and don't try to do everything at once; practice as much as possible, and never hesitate to ask questions!

[@reaver8338]

Russian grammar is there any way to learn for free rn im using dualingo

[@russiangrammar]

Trying to learn Russian on your own without a structured approach (meaning a good book, or an experienced teacher) often leads to needless frustration & suffering. I really don't recommend using Duolingo as your main resource - there's no speaking practice, the audio is synthesized speech, and there's no context in their examples (this can be a big problem for Russian in particular). If you really want to learn the language, you need a firm foundation to build on; Nicholas Brown's book is only around $15 on Amazon. Check libraries for Pimsleur CD's for some listening (Brown's book has no audio), and maybe you could exchange lessons for free with someone on iTalki. Удачи (good luck!) and let me know how it goes!

[@reaver8338]

Russian grammar благодаря

[@GDarkGoombaG]

Can you do a video in which you say all of the hard/soft pairs? Especially with soft R --- I think that that is the most difficult one. IS it R with Y at the same time? Can the trill somehow be palatalised? Tsar'

[@mihanich]

yes, the trill R can be palatalised as well.

[@outdoorsywannabe1888]

I would like to check the full courses for basic learner then work my way up. What’s the website?

[@russiangrammar]

Hi Elma, you can find information about the courses on verbs of motion at www.tips4russian.com/mastering-verbs-of-motion/ and register directly at www.tips4russian.com/pricing/ Let me know if you have any questions! :)

[@sapientiayu5597]

I just realized I cannot predict the endings of adjectives when н occurs in the end of the stem. For example трудный, ый. Синий, ий. Their stresses both fall on the stem, and н itself is a consonant. Then what makes them different ? Or maybe I am overthinking ...？

[@russiangrammar]

-ний is found in some adjectives relating to time - летний сезон (summer season), вчерашняя газета (yesterday's newspaper), place (нижний, передний) and a few others (последний, синий). The -ный (трудный, интересный, месячный 'monthly') suffix is more common. I don't think there's a way (or need) to make predictions about them, it's just part of learning each new word. :)

[@angevdw2887]

I think I've watched too many clips. I'm so confused 😕 I know the Alphabet and I can count to ten 🤣 but I'm lost on the rest. Should I just start building a vocabulary or do I need to start with grammar now because it's confusing!

[@russiangrammar]

If you're not able to take a course, I'd suggest you get a book that will take you step by step in a sensible way, gradually introducing both grammar and vocabulary. Nicholas Brown's 'New Penguin Russian Course' is inexpensive and very good, though it doesn't have audio; learnrussian.rt.com does have audio and is also a well organized course (and free!). Learning Russian with no course or book can be like mountain climbing with no map; working with a course or book is like finding an experienced guide: you'll still need to work, but you'll get to your destination with far less wasted energy. :)

[@angevdw2887]

Russian grammar Thanks for the advice, think I'm going to take it because I'm serious about learning the language :)

[@armodudegiantfan]

Thank you! That was a great video! One question. If "ш" is always a hard consonant, why is there a soft sign after it in the present tense you informal conjugation? For example, ты делаешь, хочешь, живёшь, etc. Is it just a spelling rule? Did it used to not only be a hard consonant? Thank you!

[@russiangrammar]

armodudegiantfan Your guess is right - according to Vlasto's history of Russian, both ж and ш were at one point soft, but they depalatalized - that is, they came to be pronounced as hard consonants - by the 14th century. The spelling system has never reflected that shift in a consistent way, so you'll see ша and шу, but also ши, and spellings like хочешь, as you've noticed.

[@armodudegiantfan]

Russian grammar Thank you! I also have another question too. What's the difference in sound from "б" and "бь ," "п" and "пь," and "ть" and "ц"? For example, пьеса. Why is there a ъ in the word объект? Is there a difference in sound? Is пь aspirated, while п is not?

[@russiangrammar]

armodudegiantfan Б and бь, п and пь really differ only in hardness/softness - so the blade of the tongue is raised somewhat for бь and пь. Aspiration doesn't enter into it; in fact, п, т, and к are never aspirated in words like пот, там, or ком, which can be a challenge for native speakers of English. See the video More on Hard & Soft Consonants for a description of what you hear when a soft sign ь is followed by е, я, ё, or ю. Объект is of course of foreign origin, though I'm not aware of any rules that determine when Russian will use a hard sign when importing a foreign word!

[@azdarco]

armodudegiantfan П is not aspirated in both positions. Generally is most of slavik languages there is now aspiration like in germanic ones. Buy the way, many russians do make mistake when they write 'объект' and you often can see 'обьект' in some web blogs :) The funniest thing is even now the autocorrect is showing me both versions as correct :) though обьект is wrong.

[@КириллСкопинцев-у1ъ]

+Russian grammar Твёрдый знак пишется только после приставок) В слове "объект" приставка об-, потому что есть такие слова, как "субъект". Значит, об- и суб - - это приставки, а значит, после них надо писать Ъ. Само это правило обусловлено тем, что согласная после приставок в большинстве случаев произносится твёрдо, хотя и тут есть исключения) Например, в словах "адъютант", "конъюнкция", "дизъюнкция" и т.д., хоть и пишется Ъ, в 99% случаев русскоговорящий человек произнесет их мягко. Кстати, это же относится и к слову "объект", хотя тут люди "делятся" примерно пополам=)) Мало того, зачастую, если ты начнешь говорить "адъютант" с твёрдой Д, к тебе будут относиться, как к слишком себялюбивому человеку, понтующемуся своим интеллектом ахахахаха) Правда, не везде и не всегда, но такое бывает. А так... Вы молодец)) Говорите без акцента. Побольше бы таких видео) Где люди учат других говорить на иностранном языке БЕЗ АКЦЕНТА. А то бесит -_- P. S. твёрдые согласные образуются путём веляризации (velarisation), мягкие - палатализации (palatalisation); твёрдная Л имеет тенденцию к фарингализации (pharingalisation), т.е. произнесению с сужением и напряжением гортани (Вы произносите её правильно), чистая твёрдая (веляризованная) Л появляется в английских словах типа "will", "still". В русских словах типа "блин" твёрдые согласные перед мягкой могут терять веряризацию (как здесь звук Б) и произноситься чисто (как в английском и французском языках). Также в русском языке из-за процессов ассимиляции согласные лабиализируются (labialisation) перед гласными О и У (БУ, ПО), звук М приобретаем В-образную окраску перед звуками В и Ф (как в слове "симфония"). Ужас(