The rule is "е" sounds like "ye" after a vowel, does the е[ye] have to be right in front of the vowel to sound like [ye] or can it be anywhere behind "e" throughout the word?
2 Answers
You are right. If e
is preceded by a vowel, it is read as je
:
моет, стирает, убирает, etc.
We will also read e
as je
if a words starts with the letter:
енот, ещё, если, etc.
If e
is preceded by ъ
or ь
, we shall read it as je
as well:
подъезд, съезд, въезд, варенье, etc.
However, in words like моeт
e
is often reduced to и
(моит
), and words like ещё
(see the second rule above) may be read as йищё
(если
will always be jesl'i
since e
is stressed). The reason is it's just simpler to pronounce the words like that. Technically, if you read e
as je
in those words, you'll be right, and no one will ever correct you. Many people will not even catch the difference. Anyway, it's important to note the reduction.
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unfortunately this isn't accurate, a stressed
e
preceded by a vowel is read asje
, the unstressed one is read asi
-моИт
,убираИт
,стираИт
, reduction intoi
occurs at the beginning as well unless there's a cluster of 2 consonants -йИнот
,йИщё
, but indeedйЭсли
Nov 21, 2018 at 14:25 -
i should correct myself, in
если
Е is not reduced due to being stressed, not because of the following consonants, initialе-
is always pronounced asйи-
unless stressed Nov 21, 2018 at 18:11 -
Better put it this way:
If
е
immediately follows a consonant, no [j] is added:привет, тебе, же
.Otherwise it gets a [j] sound in front of it:
ел, поел, съел, колье
.
Some words have both type 1 and type 2 е
: еле, веер, белеет, змееед
.
Same rule applies to я, ё, ю
.
Minimal pairs to practise the distinction: сел/съел
(sat/ate), полёт/польёт
(flight/will pour), полю/полью
(I weed/I will water), чего/чьего
(what/whose), перо/Пьеро (feather/Pierrot).
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I dont understand your statement you say “ if e immediately follows a consonant no [j] is added, but in привет the e here is follow by a consonant and sounds like ye Nov 22, 2018 at 23:04
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@Almonds812, I don't know what it sounds like when you say it but I do know a foreigner when they greet me with привйет! There is no й / y / [j] in привет which is what point 1 above says. To a Russian, привет and привйет sound distinctly different, while конвеер and конвейер sound exactly the same. Nov 23, 2018 at 11:40
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I have been to wikipedia, masterrussian.com, many youtube videos today, i have no i idea where you got that rule for no [j] immediately follows a consonant, in the word привет on wikipedia there is 100% clearly a [j], i also checked many russian blogs on russianpod101.com where they start the blog by saying привет, there is definitely a [j] Nov 23, 2018 at 13:32
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I am not just listening to it on wikipedia i am looking at its МФА also Nov 23, 2018 at 13:32
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I found the rule you are talking about but it turns out [j] is slightly lessoned but there is definitely still a [j] there Nov 23, 2018 at 13:37