When and
Where Should I
Place Accent
Marks in
Spanish
Is that an accent
mark or did Andrew
just kill a fly on my
paper?
3 BASIC RULES:
Best to memorize these
1 – If a word ends in a
vowel, or 'n' or 's', the
stress is usually on the
next to the last syllable.
(penúltima sílaba)
Stress:
Everybody has
it and every
word with more
than one
syllable has it.
2. If a word ends in a
consonant other than
'n' or 's', the stress is
usually on the last
syllable.
(la última sílaba)
3. If the stress in a
word doesn't follow
rules 1 and 2, then the
syllable that is stressed
needs a written accent
mark over the vowel.
-StressIt is more than what happens when
you don’t study for that important test
In words with more that one syllable, only one
syllable can be stressed.
cuando
años,
para
el
mi
Y apenas ayer,
hermana Tacha acababa
cumplir doce
supimos que la vaca
papá le regaló
día de su santo se
llevado
el
río.
que
la
de
mi
había
Diphthongs in Spanish
 Strong vowels: a, e, o – always form own syllable wherever they
appear
 Weak vowels: u, i - only form own syllable when they are separate
from other vowels.
RULE:
When a weak vowel is next to a
strong vowel or another weak
vowel, they AUTOMATICALLY
form a
diphthong = ONE SYLLABLE
EXAMPLES OF DIPHTHONGS
san-da-lia
lue-go
dio
bien
tie-ne
se-cre-ta-ria bib-lio-te-ca
sie-te
cien-cias
pue-blo
diez
nue-ve
gra-cias
bue-no
An-to-nio
e-stu-dia-nte cua-der-no
Circle the stressed syllable on these
words
no - che
ár - bol
bi - go - te
pe - rro
ca - ba - llo
co - ci - na
fa - bu - lo - so
lib - ro
ac - ci - den te
fi - lo - so - fí - a
es - ta - cio - nes
hi - jos
cés - ped
hue - so
sa - ra - pe
Circle the stressed syllable in these
words:
fri - jol
can - tar
hab - ló
an - dén
so - por - tar
sen - tí
ma - ra - tón
re - loj
ñan - dú
baj - ó
sar - tén
pin - cel
Adverbs that end in “-mente”
If the adjective has an accent mark then the adverb with -mente does also
ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS
ADJECTIVES
ADVERBS
lenta
lentamente
fácil
fácilmente
hermosa
hermosamente
cómoda
cómodamente
espiritual
espiritualmente
rápida
rápidamente
total
totalmente
crítica
críticamente
simple
simplemente
ágil
ágilmente
alta
altamente
estrépita
estrépitamente
List of homophonous monosyllables
el
UNSTRESSED WORD
the ("el anillo")
él
STRESSED WORD
he, him ("es él", "es para él")
te
yourself ("¿Cómo te llamas?")
té
tea
si
if
sí
yes, himself
se
himself, herself
sé
I know, be ("¡Sé bueno!")
mas
but ("quiero, mas no puedo")
más
more ("¿Quieres más?")
que
that ("más que nada")
qué
What? ("¿Qué piensas?")
tu
your ("tu libro")
tú
you ("¿Cómo estás tú?")
mi
my ("mi casa")
mí
me ("es para mí")
de
of
dé
give
cuan
So (tan) (uso arcaico) ("Mira el pelo cuan largo lo
tengo")
cuán
how ("¡Cuán desgraciado soy! ")
cual
which ("Esta carta, la cual no tiene remitente, llegó
ayer")
cuál
which ("¿Cuál es el mejor?)
quien
who ("Hay quien dice eso")
quién
who ("¿Quién es esa mujer?")
NEVER PUT AN ACCENT
MARK ON A ONE-SYLLABLE
WORD UNLESS YOU ARE
AWARE OF THE
CORRESPONDING
HOMOPHONE THAT DOES
NOT NEED AN ACCENT
MARK
.
To count as a
homophonous
monosyllabic pair, the two
words must:
 Be just one syllable long
 Be spelled the same
 Belong to two distinct grammatical
categories (i.e., nouns, verbs, pronouns,
prepositions, etc.)
CONJUNCTIONS &
RELATIVE PRONOUNS
INTERROGATIVES
que
qué
"that" (Es importante que estudies).
cuando "when" (Me acuesto cuando tengo sueño.)
como
"since/because", "like", "as" (Como tiene gripe,
está
guardando cama. / Marta baila como una
princesa.)
"what" (¿Qué deseas comer?)
cuándo "when" (¿Cuándo vas a venir?)
cómo
"how", "what" (¿Cómo te llamas?)
donde "where" (Vamos a comer donde vive mi hermano.) dónde "where" (¿Dónde vives?)
quien "who/that" (Fue Enrique quien rompió la ventana.) quién
porque "because" (Paco ayuna porque está de régimen.)
por
qué
"who" (¿Quién escupió en el
suelo?)
"why" (¿Por qué hablas tanto?)
Changes made in 2010
Previous to 2010:
 Demonstrative pronouns carried a
accents over their stressed syllable
to distinguish them from
demonstrative adjectives. These
adjectives always precede nouns,
the pronouns never do.
EXAMPLES: ESTE, ESA, ESO,
AQUEL
Another rule change made in
2010
The word sólo meant solamente - only,
while solo meant alone (masculine singular).
Today, neither word carries
an accent mark.
It is true that this allows for ambiguity (as in "Juan
trabaja solo en la cocina"). However, the new rule
reflects an ambiguity that exists in the spoken
language and this seems proper.
Yet another rule change in
2010
The word o (meaning or) carried an accent mark only
between numerals so that it was not confused with 0
(zero).
"Quiero cinco o seis dulces". vs "Quiero 5 ó 6
dulces".
Now, the rule is not to put an
accent mark on "o".
The Academy's stated reasoning is that since computer
printed text has become so common, there is little chance
that an "o" (letter) and a "0" number" will be confused. I
have my doubts and I believe users will continue to put an
accent on the word "ó", particularly when writing by hand.
Suggestions
1. Memorize the three rules
2. Memorize verb endings
3. Memorize one syllable words that need accents
4. Read a lot in Spanish and pay attention to the
placement of accent marks.
5. After writing in Spanish, proofread your writing
before handing in
6. Practice, practice, practice
7. Relax and do your best
Some youtube videos
these explain more and might help
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpoXih2Fbt0
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdxbgn8ZLrg
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywzGFZehsQ0
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qntSk2_J6G0