Russian alphabet - 33 letters

soft sign - Ь - makes:

• the previous consonant soft,
• little pause,
• some time changes meaning: seed - , family - , slang - , mother -

hard sign - Ъ - makes pause in pronunciation between consonant and vowel:

example: to explain - объяснять ( обяснять - it's wrong)

letter Ы - don't have capital form ( no any words starts from ы), pronounce through nose, as you are angry

Letters have capital and small forms, type and handwriting style.