Грамматика русского языка. Часть 2. Изменение звуков. Глава 2. Буква ь (мягкий знак). Russian Grammar. Part 2. Sound Variations. Unit 2. The letter ь (Soft Sign).

The soft sign is a special Russian letter that has no sound. However, it affects the sound of the consonant before it (the soft sign never begins a word). It softens it.

At the end of a word

Let's see what the soft sign does at the end of a word. Compare:

дан [dahn] given and дань [dahn'] tribute
мол [mawl] pier and моль [mawl'] moth

Do you see the difference?

Now let's practice some sets of words: without the soft sign, and with it.

стал [stahl] (he) stood and сталь [stahl'] steel
брат [braht] brother and брать [braht'] to take
мат [maht] checkmate and мать [maht'] mother

Between two consonants

When the soft sign comes between two consonants, it not only softens the consonant that comes before it, but also makes the entire word brighter and softer.

свадьба [svahd'buh] wedding
больно [bawl'nuh] painful

See the differense the soft sign makes in the following sets of words.

банка [bahn-kuh] jar and банька [bahn'-kuh] Russian banya
горка [gawr-kuh] hillock and горько [gawr'-kuh] bitterly