if i have never seen a word before, how do i determine if it is aguda, llana, or esdrujula?
there occasionally words in spanish i have not seen before. i can split the word up into syllables but how can i determine if it's aguda, llana, esdrujula, or sobreesdrujula when i dont know how to say the word?
1 Answer
There are some rules of thumb that you may find helpful 
I found this explanation online:
What is llana, esdrújula, diptongo and aguda?
Llana (also known as grave) is a word where the emphasis is placed on the penultimate syllable. A word is a llana if it ends in a vowel, n, or s.
Ex: Bufanda, silla, guitarra
Aguda is a word where the emphasis is placed on the last syllable. This is the case when the word ends in any consonant other than n or s. This includes all verbs in their non-reflexive form.
Ex: Tenaz, hablar, comer, andar, vivir, ciudad
Esdrújula is a word where the emphasis is placed on the third to last syllable. An example of an esdrújula is, well, esdrújula. All esdrújulas have a written accent.
Ex: fantástico, clásico, hablábamos
Diptongo is a combination of two vowels; in English they are called diphthongs. They occur when a syllable has both a strong vowel (a, o, e) and a weak vowel (u, i). It can also be two weak vowels. In these cases the two vowels are pronounced together. You have to put an accent on the weak vowel ONLY if the two vowels are NOT pronounced together.
Ex: Fuera, pie, suave, día, florería
