Continuing my previous post on reading Russian words easily by breaking them into parts, let's learn another rule. You already know that Pawns (consonants) run to the right, toward the Queen (vowel). This works in about 70-80% of cases. Now let's look at the exceptions. The first exception involves the sticky letter "Й". The second involves a special type of Pawns called Sonorous Pawns. The Ordinary Pawns are: к, п, т, с, ш, г, б, д, в, з. The Sonorous Pawns are: л, м, н, р. These letters sound more voiced - almost like Queens themselves. Unlike Ordinary Pawns, Sonorous Pawns (if they are in a group: лк, рн, мн etc) do not run to the right; they stay with the Queen that comes before them. Examples: • Ма́рка (stamp) -> мАр-кА Here we have two Queens (а, а). The letter "р" is a Sonorous Pawn, so it stays with the first Queen. • Бу́лка (bun) -> бУл-кА • Ла́мпа (lamp) -> лАм-пА • По́лный (full) -> пОл-нЫй • Соверше́нство (perfection) -> сО-вЕр-шЕн-ствО • Строи́тельство (construction) -> стрО-И-тЕль-ствО Please note that the rules for splitting (hyphenating) words in writing are slightly different from the rules for reading.