If you’re new to the idea of stressing syllables, try this listening/speaking exercise to practice hearing the stress in various Spanish words. Words ending in a consonant (not n, s)įor words that end in all other consonants (not n or s), the stress falls on the last syllable.Įl profesor (pro-fe- sor) the professor/teacherĪnd that’s it! Think you can remember those two rules? Los calcetines (cal-ce- ti -nes) socks 2. Words ending in a vowel, n, or s.įor words that end in a vowel, the letter n, or the letter s, the stress is on the next to last syllable. It’s the difference between “insult” (IN-sult), as in “I couldn’t think of a good insult,” and “insult” (in-SULT), as in “She’s going to in sult me now, I just know it.” 1.

Stress is important, as it can sometimes be the only way to distinguish two words. There are two basic rules in Spanish that tell us where to put the stress of a word.

The accent is written from lower left to upper right: á, é, í, ó, ú. Spanish accents (tildes) can only be written over the five vowels (a, e, i, o, u). (Download) Spanish Accent Marksįirst let’s cover our basics. This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that youĬlick here to get a copy.

Typing Spanish accents with the international keyboard.

Question words used as pronouns do not have accents.

Indirect and embedded questions carry accents.

Spanish Homonyms with Accents: Same Pronunciation, Different Meaning.Once you learn two simple rules, all of the accents you see while immersing yourself in Spanish-on Twitter, the news, and everything in between-will make sense. I was frustrated, and Spanish accents continued to perplex me until a few years later when I learned the amazing fact that Spanish accent marks follow rules! “There’s only an accent when it’s plural,” my teacher told me. There it was, a big red strike through my handwritten “el exámen” on my Spanish vocab test. JThe Complete Guide to Spanish Accent Marks

How to add an e with an accent mark