Russian / Signs and the ya-yu-yo family

Ьь

The letter “мягкий знак

/'/

Ь ь sounds like silent: it softens (palatalizes) the consonant right before it.

Where is Ь on the keyboard?

On Russian Phonetic, ь is on the key QWERTY prints as ";", right little finger, on the home row. On ЙЦУКЕН it is on the key QWERTY prints as "m", right index finger. Two different physical keys for one letter, which is why moving between the two layouts is its own skill rather than a detail.

Russian Phonetic
Ё
!1
"2
3
;4
%5
:6
?7
*8
(9
)0
_-
+=
Tab
Я
Ш
Е
Р
Т
Ы
У
И
О
П
Ч
Щ
Ъ
Caps
А
С
Д
Ф
Г
Х
Й
К
Л
Ь
Э
Shift
З
Ж
Ц
В
Б
Н
М
<,
>.
Ю
Shift
Ctrl
Alt
Alt
Ctrl
Russian (ЙЦУКЕН)
Ё
!1
"2
3
;4
%5
:6
?7
*8
(9
)0
_-
+=
Tab
Й
Ц
У
К
Е
Н
Г
Ш
Щ
З
Х
Ъ
/\
Caps
Ф
Ы
В
А
П
Р
О
Л
Д
Ж
Э
Shift
Я
Ч
С
М
И
Т
Ь
Б
Ю
,.
Shift
Ctrl
Alt
Alt
Ctrl

Words that use Ь ь

  • день/den'/day
  • очень/ochen'/very
  • только/tol'ko/only