SPAN 275
Spelling.
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In Spanish, the /k/ sound as in ‘cat’) is written with a ‘c’ before the vowels ‘a’, ‘o’, or ‘u’.
o Ex: camino chocolate cuatro
In Spanish, the /k/ sound is written with a ‘qu’ before the vowels ‘e’ or ‘i’.
o Ex: que quiero Querétaro
In Spanish, the /g/ sound (as in ‘go’) is written with a ‘g’ before the vowels ‘a’, ‘o’, or ‘u’.
o Ex: gato gota agua
In Spanish, the /g/ sound is written ‘gu’ before the vowels ‘e’ or ‘i’.
o Ex: guerra guitarra
In Spanish, the letter ‘z’ before ‘es’ changes to a ‘c’.
o Ex: vez> veces lápiz>lápices
Accents. Accents are used to indicate a change in the normal stress pattern of
a word in Spanish or to indicate a change in meaning or grammatical function.
o There are two rules for pronouncing words in Spanish:
o If a word ends in a Vowel or the consonants ‘n’ or ‘s’, the stress (or emphasis) is
on the second to the last syllable.
 Ex: ca-sa caminata carro andante
o If a word ends in any Consonant other than ‘n’ or ‘s’, the stress (or emphasis) is
on the last syllable.
 Ex: escribir pared color colgar codorniz reloj
o If the stress (emphasis) of the word does not follow these rules for
pronunciation, then they will have a written accent (‘) on the syllable that is
stress.
 Ex: árbol ángulo instrucción jóvenes
o If there are pairs of words that are identical, then an accent is used to distinguish
meaning or grammatical function.
 One syllable words:
 Ex: ‘sí’ (yes) is an adverb, while ‘si’ (if) is a conjunction, ‘dé’ (give)
command form of verb ‘dar’, while ‘de’ (of/from) is a preposition
 Interrogative pronouns have accents, but relative pronouns, adverbs or
conjunctions do not :
 Ex: qué/que: ¿Qué haces?/ El libro que estás leyendo es bueno./
le dije que no iría.
o An accent is used when there are two Vowels side-by-side and they do not form
a diphthong.
 Ex: sabía baúl versus historia Europa
Prepared by Dr. Martínez-Gibson-College of Charleston-Dept. of Hispanic Studies
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Diphthong. A diphthong is a combination of two Vowels side-by-side. One of
the Vowels must be an ‘i’ or a ‘u’ without a written accent. The pronunciation
of these vowels is shorter in length.
Ex: La Coria hacia Aurora
Syllables. A simple rule to syllable division in Spanish is the following:
o One Consonant between two Vowels:
o Ex: me-ta ca-sa pe-rro
o Two Consonants between Vowels, where the second one is not ‘l’ o ‘r’:
o Ex: res-pe-to cen-ce-rro
o Two Consonants between Vowels, and the second one is ‘l’ o ‘r’, this forms a Consonant
cluster and is not separated.
o Ex: au-to-gra-fí-a
a-plas-tar
o Three Consonants or more:
o Ex: ins-tru-men-to res-plan-dor
Prepared by Dr. Martínez-Gibson-College of Charleston-Dept. of Hispanic Studies
Page 2
Ejercicio
 La Ortografía.
A. Los acentos. En las siguientes palabras, hay una sílaba subrayada.
Esta sílaba es la que lleva énfasis. Según las reglas de acentuación,
indica si las siguientes palabras necesitan un acento escrito y escribe
el acento sobre la vocal
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
______rapido
______pluma
_______brillante
_______caiman
_______español
6. _______frances
7. _______examen
8. _______examenes
9. _______maquina
10. _______caracter
B. Los diptongos. Indica si las siguientes palabras tienen un diptongo o
no. Luego, si tiene uno, subráyalo.
1. ______ gracias
6. _______reírse
2. ______encuentro
7. _______recién
3. _______día
8. _______ahora
4. _______escribías
9. _______duodeno
5. _______historia
10. _______continúa
C. Sílabas. Divide las siguientes palabras en sílabas.
1. Raza______________________________________________
2. Pantera____________________________________________
3. Caballo____________________________________________
4. Resplandor_________________________________________
5. Transcribir__________________________________________
6. embrollo___________________________________________
7. inscribir____________________________________________
Prepared by Dr. Martínez-Gibson-College of Charleston-Dept. of Hispanic Studies
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