When to put a comma above the letter in writing ?

Question

When will I put a stress or comma above a letter in writing? Please tell me why and when to put it. I'll appreciate your answers - Gracias !

Welcome to the forum! - pesta, Jul 11, 2011

Thanks. :) - ChaiZelle01, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 1

In Spanish, the comma's are generally used to put stress on a syllable.

The stress of all words that don't end in a vowel or -s or -n is on the last syllable. Words that do end with a vowel, -s, or -n have the stress on the second to last syllable. Words with a comma always have stress on that syllable.

There's a few cases of one and two syllable words where the comma's don't change the sound, but the meaning of the word.

Example:

Sólo = only

Solo = lonely

As a related matter, the accent on Sólo is no longer used, except when needed to avoid ambiguity. - pesta, Jul 11, 2011

Answer 2

In English, we call these marks "accents". Commas are these -> , , , usually placed between words where you may pause, and to separate parts of a sentence.

In Spanish, áéíóú are called "acento" marks, or "tilde", and ñ has a "tilde".

Please have a look at the reference article here on SpanishDict on Accents.