When ь sign denotes softness. Rules for using hard and soft signs

The grammar of the Russian language is a rather complex phenomenon. Many of the rules in it are based on logical concepts or historical traditions. This is how spelling patterns associated with the use of a soft sign can be characterized.

To soften consonants

One of the first rules that students become familiar with as early as primary school, associated with the letter " soft sign". In words she fulfills various functions. The first and main thing is to indicate soft signs. In this case, the soft sign is written, firstly, at the very end of the word: laziness, wattle fence etc. Exception from of this rule make up words that end with letters h, sch, these consonants themselves are soft in Russian. For example: ball, key, cloak, stove maker etc.

The spelling is quite easy to remember and apply in practice. Basically, it does not cause any difficulties or complaints for children. Secondly, the letter soft sign is written in the middle of many words, performing a dividing function. It is necessary for separation from the solid standing nearby. Being between them, the sign is a kind of boundary, for example: Vanka, letter, eighth. Without him soft sound would assimilate with the neighboring hard one, and the words sounded with a clear “Caucasian” accent. Kind of stupid, isn't it? But soft does not allow assimilation, and words have a familiar, “correct” appearance that corresponds to the norms of the Russian literary language. But that's not all! Thirdly, “b” is written in the middle of a word between two consonants to soften the first of them: schoolgirl, feller, freeman. If it were not for him, the words would lose their euphony. And finally, the fourth case, when a soft sign is written in words where two of the same (soft) consonants are joined. When a word changes, the first retains its softness, while the second hardens: let's take it, I'll take it. Also important are spellings such as “b” before iotated consonants and before the letter “O” in words of foreign origin: family, bindweed, champignons, medallion. In addition, we should not forget about words in which it is required after sibilants: look, look, just and etc.

Verbs and "b"

It is important to teach schoolchildren to correctly write the soft sign in verbs. This concerns indeterminate form, as well as second person and imperative forms. Let's look at it in more detail. So, at the end of the infinitive it is written “b”: write, read, listen. This spelling is also checked by the question: what to do?/what to do? etc. Also written in verbs: you write, you watch, you play, you play, you'll dance etc. What are their characteristics? 2nd person form in present and future tense. Therefore, in order for students not to make mistakes, they need to work on the algorithm for determining verb forms and the ability to understand the categories of person and tense. The characteristics of this part of speech in terms of moods are also related to spelling. "b" is written in and is one of the spelling indicators of many verbs singular and plural: eat it, cut it off.

How to consolidate what you have learned

For a solid assimilation of the material and its successful use in written language practice, the teacher needs to regularly conduct vocabulary dictations and interdictations, work with cards and punched cards, independent work and others Be sure to check your notebooks in a timely and thorough manner, keep a record of errors and work on them in a timely manner.

There are two amazing letters in the Russian alphabet - a soft sign and a hard sign. They themselves do not represent any sounds. But they affect the neighbors.

The soft sign performs two important functions in the Russian language. It denotes the softness of the preceding consonant and is used as a dividing mark.

Sometimes a soft sign in a word is heard, but not . And vice versa... It’s difficult to remember all the rules and exceptions, but I really want to write correctly. It turns out that learning this is not at all difficult.

Soft sign after sizzling

There is no need for a soft sign after sibilants of the second declension singular (, garage), first and second declension in plural genitive case (puddle, ski) and in short adjectives male, answering the question “what?”. For example: fresh - fresh, similar - similar. In a consonant with a consonant at the end (perishing, married, unbearable), the soft sign is also not used, but it should be written in the word wide open.

The soft sign is not written in the pronouns “our”, “your”, in the particle “alzh” and in the preposition “between”.

Soft sign to indicate the softness of consonants in writing

The soft sign is not written in the combinations: -chk- (line, crust), –chn– (bakery, laundry), -nch– (strum, bell), –nshch– (racer, bathhouse attendant), -rshch– (collector, wrangler ), –rch– (morel, ), –schn– (elegant, powerful), -st– (bridge, reed), -nt– (candy wrapper, edging).

In foreign words with a double letter l, the soft sign is not written (team, collegium, collie).

There is a rule for spelling compound numerals. If the second root in them is inclined, the soft sign should not be written. For example: eighteen - eighteen, fifteen - fifteen.

If the stem of the word from which the relative adjective is formed ends in –н, –рь, then a soft sign is not needed before the suffix -sk–. For example: beast - brutal, horse - horse. The exceptions are adjectives formed from the names of months (except January), words of Chinese origin and adjectives like day. For example: September, November, but January; Sichuan - Szechuan; day - day.

For nouns ending in -nya with a preceding consonant, a soft sign is not written. For example: tower - towers. Exception: young lady - young ladies, - kitchens, hawthorn - hawthorn.

To find out whether a soft sign is needed in a verb ending in –, ask a question about it. If there is no soft sign in the question, then there is no need to write a third person, a soft sign: “he (what is he doing?) studying,” “they (?) care.”

If you want to write correctly, do exercises to consolidate theory and read more.

Sources:

Spelling of hard and soft characters
Spelling a soft sign at the end of words after sibilants

Writing the particle “not” with pronouns can present a real problem - after all, the Russian language is famous for its ambiguity in such matters. However, if you know a few simple rules, it might not be that difficult.

A pronoun is a special part of speech in the Russian language, which is usually used instead of denoting an object or being, as well as its properties and other characteristics. At the same time, the pronoun is characterized by its own spelling rules, including cases of spelling with the particle “not”.

Rules for writing the particle “not” with pronouns

The generality of the particle “not” when used with a pronoun states that in this situation they should be written separately. Moreover, this method of use concerns the most various types pronouns. In particular, those that denote an object, a creature, a sign of an object and other concepts. For example, the particle “not” is used in this way in the following cases: “not that”, “not you”, “not everyone” and so on.

Special cases of using the particle “not” with pronouns

A separate situation is presented by the use of the particle “not” in negative pronouns. They can denote the absence of an object, a creature, a sign of an object or another object. For example, the group of such negative pronouns includes such as “nobody”, “nothing”. In addition, negative pronouns can also denote the uncertainty of the object in question, these include pronouns such as “something” or “someone”. It is noteworthy that in most of these pronouns the particle “not” will be stressed. If you encounter a situation where a negative particle is in an unstressed position, in most cases we are talking about another particle - “neither”.

In all the examples given and similar ones, the particle “not” should be written together with the pronoun. However, this rule applies only to situations where a negative pronoun is used without a preposition. If the situation in which a negative pronoun is used requires the presence of a preposition between the particle “not” and the main word, they should be written separately. For example, separate writing is required in the examples “no one”, “no one” and the like.

Finally, the special situation of using the particle “not” is associated with the phrase “no one else but.” In this case, obviously, there is the use of a negative pronoun with the partial “not” without a preposition, but it is an exception to the rule and requires separate writing particles and pronouns. The same rule applies to some variations of this phrase, namely: “no one else but”, “nothing else but”, “nothing else but”. However, this rule applies only to the given variants of phrases; in other combinations, the usual rules for writing the particle “not” apply.

Video on the topic

Sources:

Spelling "not" with pronouns

"b" (soft sign) is Slavic in origin. In the ancient Cyrillic alphabet there was the letter “er”, which conveyed a reduced (weakened) sound almost like a zero sound or like a vowel close to the sounds [o] and [e]. After the loss of reduced sounds in the Old Russian language, the need for the letter “er” disappeared, but it did not disappear from the alphabet, but was transformed into a soft sign and got my special purpose.

The letter "b" acts as a separator sign a: before the letters “e, ё, yu, ya, and” in roots, suffixes and endings of nominal parts of speech in Russian and borrowed words (weeds, sparrows, quarry, voronyo); in a small group foreign words before the letter “o” (pavilion, broth). The letter “b” is used to indicate the softness of consonants: at the end of a word (except for hissing ones): horse, ; in the middle of a word before a solid consonant: wedding, nanny; in the middle of a word between soft consonants, if when the word changes, the second soft consonant becomes hard: take (take), na zorka (dawn); to indicate softness "l": orange, glazier. Another function of soft sign a – designation grammatical form words: a noun in the nominative and accusative case ending in (daughter, wilderness, speech); in the instrumental case (by children, people); in different verb forms– infinitive (bake, sit), imperative mood (cut, cut), in the form of the second person ( , ); in adverbs that end in hissing sounds (backwards, ); in grammatical forms - at the end of words from five to forty (seven, twenty), and after forty - in the middle of cardinal numbers (fifty, five hundred). Please note that in the adverbs “uzh”, “married”, “unbearable” it is soft sign not .Also soft sign is not used in the genitive plural form of nouns that end in the combination “nya”, and in words derived from them with the suffix -k-, when in the nominative singular form this combination is preceded by a consonant: basen (), vyshen () . Exceptions include the words: young ladies, boyaryshen, kitchens, sheets. Remember that the letter “b” is written in adjectives formed from nouns - names calendar months: June, October. An exception is the word “January”.

Video on the topic

Everyone knows perfectly well that in the Russian alphabet there are two letters that do not indicate a sound, cannot begin words and cannot be capitalized. Of course, these are soft and hard signs. It is no coincidence that these letters are called “signs”: their use helps to correctly convey the sound of words. With the help of a soft sign, in addition, grammatical forms of words related to different parts speech. Consider spelling options for this sign.

No matter how they try to convince students that the knowledge they acquired during their school years will be needed in the future, unfortunately, this is not the case. However, some things they teach in school will actually be useful in life. adult life. For example, the ability to write correctly. To master it, you need to know the basic grammatical laws of the Russian language. Among them are the rules governing the use of separating signs ъ and ь.

Hard sign: history and its role in the word

The twenty-eighth letter of the Russian alphabet, despite the fact that it does not indicate sounds, is performed in words important function. Therefore, before consideringrules governing the use of ъ and ь signs are worthlearn a little about its history and role in the word.

The hard sign existed in Slavic languages almost from the very moment of their formation. It started out as a short vowel sound until it evolved into an unpronounceable letter used to divide words into syllables and also replace spaces.

At the end of the 19th century. it was noted that the frequent use of ъ in texts (4% of the total volume) is inappropriate, especially in telegraphy, cursive writing and typography. In this regard, attempts have been made more than once to limit the use solid sign.

After the revolution of 1917, this letter was completely abolished for almost ten years. In those years, an apostrophe was used as a separator in words.However, in 1928 it was excluded from the Russian language (but remained in Ukrainian and Belarusian), and its dividing function was taken over by a solid sign, which it performs to this day.

In what cases is ъ put in words?

As for the use of a solid sign, there are several rules for placing it before e, yu, ё, i:

After prefixes that end with a consonant: connector, pre-anniversary.
In terms that came from other languages, with the prefixes ab-, ad-, diz-, in-, inter-, con-, ob- and sub-: adjuvant, disjunction.
After counter-, pan-, super, trans- and field-: pan-Europeanism, superyacht.
In compound words starting with two-, three-, four-: two-core, three-tier, quadrilingual.

There are several exceptions, when ъ does not stand at the junction of a prefix and a root, but inside the word itself. These nouns include: courier and flaw.

When they don't put it

In addition to the rules governing the use of ъ and ь signs, it is worth remembering cases when they do not need to be used:

A hard sign is not used in words with a prefix ending in a consonant when it is followed by the vowels a, o, i, u, e, s: cloudless, curbed.
This sign is not used in complex abbreviated terms: inyaz, glavyuvelirtorg.
It is also not used in lexemes written with a hyphen: half a diocese, half an apple.

When considering the rules governing the use of ъ and ь signs that perform a separating function in a word, it is worth remembering that the lexemes “interior” and “clerk” are written using a soft sign. This spelling is no exception, since in the word “interior” inter is not a prefix, but part of the root. And in “deacon” the prefix is not sub-, but po-, but -deacon is the root.

What functions does a soft sign perform?

As for ь, in ancient times it meant a short vowel [and], but gradually, like ъ, it lost its sound.

At the same time, he retained the ability [and] to impart softness to the preceding consonant sound.

Unlike the hard word, it can perform 3 functions.

Dividing.
Informs about the softness of the preceding sound.
Used to indicate certain grammatical forms.

Rules for using a soft sign

Studying the laws of the Russian languageregulating the use of ъ and ь signs, it is worth learning a few rules:

A soft sign that performs a dividing function is never placed after a prefix (this is the destiny of a hard sign). Parts of words in which the dividing ь is written are the root, suffix and ending to e, ё, yu, i: monkey, interior. This rule applies to both Russian vocabulary and borrowed terms from other languages.
The separator ь is placed in some words before the letter combination it: champignon, medallion, broth and million.

In the case when ь informs about the softness of the preceding sound, and does not perform a dividing function, its production is determined by the following rules:

In the middle of a word, ь indicates the softness of the letter l if it precedes another consonant other than l: finger, prayer. Also, the soft sign does not “wedge” into letter combinations: nch, nsch, nn, rshch, chk, chn, rch, schn ( drummer, candle).
In the middle of a word, this sign is placed between the soft and hard consonants: please, very much.
In the middle of a word, ь can stand between two soft consonants. Provided that when the form of the word changes, the first remains soft, and the second becomes hard: request - in a request, letter - in a letter.
In some cases, this symbol is located at the end of a word after consonants. At the same time, it helps to establish the meaning of the token: linen(plant) - laziness(quality of character), con(place for bets in the game) - horse(animal).

As a marker for individual grammatical forms, this sign is used in the following cases:

In adjectives arising from the names of months (except January): February, September.
At the end of numerals from 5 to 30, as well as in their middle, if they denote tens from 50 to 80 and hundreds from 500 to 900: six, seventy, eight hundred.
IN imperative mood verbs (except lie down - lie down): take it out, take it out, throw it in, throw it in.
In the infinitive (initial form of the verb): maintain, raise.
In all cases of the word “eight” and in the instrumental case it is plural. numbers of individual numerals and nouns: six, lashes.

The use of ь and ъ signs after hissing w, h, shch, sh

Following these soft sign letters is possible under the following conditions:

At the end of most adverbs and particles, except: I can't bear to get married and in pretext between.
In the infinitive: preserve, bake.
In the imperative mood of verbs: anoint, comfort.
In the second person endings of singular verbs of the future and present tenses: sell it, destroy it.
At the end of the nominative case of nouns. gender, in III declension: daughter, power. For comparison in m. gender - cry, broadsword.

In some cases, ь is not used after these letters:

In nouns of the 2nd declension: executioner, dummy.
In short forms of adjectives: fresh, burning.
In the genitive case of plural nouns: puddles, clouds

A hard sign after zh, sh, ch, sch at the end of a word or root is not placed, since its “place” is always after the prefix before e, e, yu, i.

Using ь and ъ signs: exercises

Having familiarized yourself with all the cases of setting soft and hard signs, you should move on to the exercises. To avoid confusion, we have collected together most of the above rules governing the use of ь and ъ signs. The table below will serve as a hint for completing the tasks.

In this exercise you need to choose which letter should be placed in the words.

This task concerns the use of a soft sign following sibilant letters. You should open the brackets in it and put a soft sign where necessary.

In the last exercise you need to write down the proposed words in 2 columns. In the first - those that are used with ь, in the second - those that are without it.

That both hard and soft signs are "silent" letters, they perform important role in Russian. You can make many mistakes in your writing if you do not know the laws of grammar governing the use of ъ and ь signs. You will have to learn more than one rule so as not to confuse which sign should be used in a particular situation. However, it is worth it, especially in the case of a soft sign, since often only its presence helps determine lexical meaning words.

A soft sign is one of the letters of the Russian alphabet that does not have its own sound. It cannot be pronounced phonetically, but despite this, it is significant and serves a very important role.

History of the soft sign

At the stage of the birth of the great and mighty Russian language, our familiar soft sign was used as a very short version of the letter And. Over time, the soft sign lost this purpose, but, like the letter And, continued to soften the leading consonant.

In the Cernovo Slavic dialect, the concept of using the letter b almost the same as in traditional Russian, with the exception of some details. Firstly, in Church Slavonic the soft sign, contrary to the rules and canons of the Russian language, is written after the hissing letters at the end of the nouns m.r. (bucket, guard). Secondly, the soft sign in Church Slavonic was written at the end of any short passive participles(see, hear).

In some cases, it was acceptable not to put a soft sign between consonants where it should be. For example, instead of the word dark could write tma, and so on.

Soft sign functions

We all know that consonant sounds are soft and hard. Some consonants are always soft, and some are softened by other letters. For example, iotated vowels soften the hard consonant that precedes them. The soft sign performs exactly the same function as these vowels - it softens the consonants that precede it:

softens the preceding consonant;
performs the function of separation in words before iotated vowels and a vowel O in borrowed words;
does not carry a special phonetic load, but retains the grammatical form in some words (mouse, dry land, wilderness).

Let's look at a few special cases in which a soft sign may appear in the middle of a word.

Soft sign between two consonants

Example: skates, bathhouse, golf, polka, hospital, coal.

In this case, the soft sign simply softens the preceding consonant. Rule: a soft sign in the middle of a word is not written between combinations of consonants schn, schk, chn, chk.

Soft sign between a consonant and an iotated vowel (dividing)

Example: trees, logs, pickles, learning, monkey, bindweed, necklace.

In this case, the soft sign softens the preceding consonant. The iotated vowel is decomposed into two sounds .

The soft sign can appear not only before iotated vowels.

Example: broth, champignon, canyon, medallion.

Most often this happens in foreign borrowed words.

How not to make a mistake when writing a soft sign in the middle and end of a word?

A soft sign at the end of a word is needed to soften the consonant in front.

Examples: coal, salt, moth, tulle, pain, daring, calm, scrap, teacher, password.

Sounds h, f, w according to the canons of the Russian language, they cannot be soft a priori, but in some cases a soft sign can be placed after them. It does not soften the preceding consonant, but is needed to preserve the grammatical form. Let's see in what cases this can happen:

Nouns female(rye, quiet, mouse).
Verbs in all forms (drain, protect, build, wash).
For adverbs ending in h And w(upside down, completely) and one adverb has and(wide open).

When you don’t need to put a soft sign after hissing ones:

Masculine nouns (reed, garage, guard).
(good, nice, fresh).
Adverbs on and except wide open(unbearable, married, already).
Feminine nouns in the plural of the genitive case (pears, clouds, heaps).

A little about the transfer

How to hyphenate words with a soft sign in the middle of a word? This is worth considering separately. Words with a soft sign in the middle of a word often cause difficulties when you need to move the word to another line. And there are many mistakes of this kind made in the texts.

Words with a soft sign in the middle are hyphenated as follows: first, you need to divide the word you want to hyphenate into syllables. We remember that, as many vowels in a word, there are as many syllables.

Step 1. Example: monkey.

It is important to remember that when transferring a word with a separating soft sign to another line, you cannot separate the soft sign from the consonant in front - the transfer must be carried out only with it.

Step 2. Example: monkey(example of correct transfer).

An important detail: if a soft sign is located at the end of a word, it cannot be moved to another line.

Incorrect example: mother-in-law, love, bear.

Correct example: mother-in-law, love, honey.

When hyphenating, you cannot leave one letter on a line. This rule applies not only to words with a soft sign in the middle of the word, but also to any others.

Exercises

Soft sign in the middle of a word. 1 class.

1. Underline those words in which a soft sign softens the preceding consonant:

Weeds, elk, fire, trees, salt, monkey, stakes, flat, letter, sable, deer, strong, trill, medallion, spruce forest, crane, horse, family, days, coat, caramel, judges, blood, love, nightingales, troublemaker, gimp, cortel, imposing.

2. Enter a soft sign where it is needed:

Hush_, reed_, hear_, garage_, sleep_, rosy_, courage_, mirage_, bake_, cut_, married_, good_, beach_, watchman_, guard_, already_, wide open_, unbearable_, beach_, backhand_, care_, carried away_, rook_, completely_.

3. Perform a phonetic analysis of these words (words can be given to children by variant or each child can be given an individual word):

Curtain, backstage, expanse, sommelier, barrier.

TSYA and TSYA - which is correct?

Unfortunately, many people make a mistake in this seemingly elementary spelling. How do you know what to write at the end of a verb?

You just need to ask a question about the verb. If the verb answers the question “what to do”, a soft sign is placed. If the question is "what does it do?" - no soft sign needed.

Example: clean up (what to do?), agree (what to do?); show off (what to do?).

He cleans (what does he do?), negotiates (what does he do?), shows off (what does he do?).