 These are described below, mostly with reference to the orthographic rather than the phonological system for clarity.Declensions are generally divided into "hard" and "soft" declensions.Soft declensions are used when the stem of the noun ends in a soft (postalveolar or palatal-like) consonant in all forms, while hard declensions are used by nouns with stems ending in a hard consonant in some (but not necessarily all) forms.