The Russian language would not be great and powerful if it did not possess complex grammar. And to study all the rules is not easy at all not only for foreign students, but also for carriers. Even in primary school, when teaching spelling, schoolchildren face serious problems, one of which is doubtful consonants. Examples of words with them cause a lot of difficulties and underlining with a red pen from an angry teacher in notebooks. How to dispel doubts? We will try to find answers in this article.
Strong position
On what part of the word and in what environment this or that sound is located, its position depends: strong or weak. In a weak position, the sound loses its distinctive properties and is likened to another, stronger one. Thus, a strong position reveals all the properties of sound and allows you to distinguish it from the rest in the flow of natural speech.
Of course, a strong position for a vowel sound is its presence under stress. In the word "rush" the sound [e] is unstressed, so it can easily be mistaken for [and]. To check the spelling, it’s worth picking the word with the same root, wherever the desired vowel is under stress - “rush”. Since the root of the word has not changed, we can conclude: the letter e is written in the word.
A strong position for consonants can be of two types: in sonority and deafness, and also in hardness and softness. In the first case, the consonant must stand either after the vowel (gender, beat), or after the consonant consonant, as well as the sound [in] (yours, anger). The participation of the voice in vowels and sonor sounds helps to reveal the strengths of the consonant sound. In the case of hardness and softness, the strong position of the consonant is at the end of the word (angle - coal), before the vowel (mole - chalk), and also before the solid consonant (mockery). Consonant sounds in a strong position are intuitive for all native speakers. Therefore, they never cause difficulties for students and are easy to remember.
Weak position
It is it that causes the greatest difficulties in teaching spelling, since sound in this position loses its distinctive properties. Instead of a voiced consonant, the student really wants to write deaf, and replace hard with soft. The blame for this confusion is the morphological principle of writing words in the Russian language - it is necessary to write all the meaningful parts of the word according to the standard template, not paying attention to the features of their pronunciation.
For vowels, this, of course, is the position in the unstressed syllable: spring, milk. Sounds in this position lose their longitude and strength. As mentioned above, to check the spelling of such words, it is necessary to select similar forms with the same sound in a strong position - under stress.
With consonants, the situation is much more complicated. If we talk about deafness and sonority, then the weak position in this case will be the position of the sound at the end of the word (fool), as well as in front of noisy deaf and voiced consonants ( ice , transfer).
Doubtful consonants are also made up of softness / hardness: this is primarily the comparison of the soft consonant in front ( leaf , all , good, ir ). More details about the features of writing a soft sign will be discussed in the penultimate chapter.
At the end of the word
In what positions do words with doubtful consonants occur most often? The examples are very numerous, therefore, first of all, we will separately consider the final position - it is most common in the great and mighty.
Voiced consonants at the end of a word have a steady tendency to be deafened, since toward the end of a word the pronunciation effort is minimized. The sounds [f] in the word “lens”, [w] in the word “swift” are doubtful consonants. Examples of voicing at the end of Russian words are not found.
Checking the spelling of such consonants is easy - you need to change the word form so that after an incomprehensible sound there is a vowel: "lenses", "swifts".
You should also remember about unverifiable cases: the genitive case of the plural (tables) and gerunds (falling, making).
Doubtful Root Consonants: Examples and Rules
The root of the word is the most important part that carries meaning, therefore, it is impossible to distort it in any case. There are many cases where it is worth remembering the spelling of doubtful consonants in the root of the word. Examples will follow below.
First of all, the selection of a test word with the same consonant in a strong position can greatly facilitate the spelling of many words (lubrication - lubricate). Alternation of consonants Ms. and C-h is also sometimes found in Russian (mating - mat).
Double consonant
If the prefix and root are joined using the same consonant, it doubles (heartless, cry out). The same applies to the junction of the two foundations in complex words (head physician). Often this feature is reflected in the pronunciation, so that does not cause difficulties.
There are other positions in which dubious consonants stand at the root: examples relate to joints with suffixes. If the root ends in a double consonant, it remains before the suffix in full: ten-point, compromise.
Unverifiable dubious consonants in the root of the word will make the memory work. Examples can be found in the spelling dictionary: atoll , gi bb he, kall igrafiya, a couple of ollograms, tennis and others.
Soft sign: needed or not
The softness of the consonant is often questioned. The problem here is that not only a soft sign is capable of softening the sound, but also a vowel with an iota component (letters e, e, y, i, and also). Therefore, in words where the two consonants are followed by such a vowel, a soft sign between them is not needed. This rule once again confirms what a complex phenomenon is doubtful consonants. Examples: snowball , chick , racer , bridle .
A special point in this rule is the numerals from fifty to eighty, as well as from five hundred to nine hundred. The soft sign in the words of six hundred , seven hundred remains as part of the basis in the compound word. Infinitives are written with a soft sign in front of the postfix, in contrast to personal forms of the verb (to study well - they study well). This also includes the imperative form of the verb in the plural (sit, drop).
Doubtful and unpronounceable consonants: examples and rules
The confluence of three or more consonant sounds inevitably entails the loss of one of them, which is in the most weak position. The selection of a root word with this sound in a strong position will become a reliable assistant in this case too. For example : hello - health, amateur - amateur. But the word "ladder" will have to be remembered, because the test "ladder" will not help here.
How to stop doubting
Only a combination of different methods will help forever deal with the many-sided problem of doubtful consonants in the Russian language. First of all, it is worth adopting the selection of test words with consonants in a strong position. In addition to self-testing, the search for such forms is also a fascinating activity, which allows you to once again pay attention to your vocabulary.
Of course, there are many words that cannot be verified because of their origin or uniqueness. Such cases are collected in any spelling dictionary - a reliable assistant for anyone who wants to know the Russian language thoroughly.
And finally, do not despair - very few can fully comprehend the most complicated grammar of the Russian language. Any spelling errors do not need to be treated too emotionally, it is enough only with the willingness to correct them and try to remember. Doubts are inherent not only to consonants, but to each of us.