A mini grammar lesson on how to put accents on Spanish words

Question

If you know how to properly pronounce the word aloud, that helps a lot.

So you know how to pronounce it correctly, but how do you know if it has an accent mark?

Here are some tricks about placing tildes, or accent marks, on Spanish words.

There are three terms for Spanish accents.

• Aguda--stress on final syllable
• Llana--stress on 2nd-to-last syllable
• Esdrújula--stress on 3rd-to-last syllable or any syllable farther from the end of the word. (ex: tírame and tíramelo. Even though that extra syllable was added at the end, the accent remains in place because it still follows the esdrújula rules, due to the stress being on a syllable three or more syllables away from the end of the word).

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And here are the rules. The word will have a tilde, or accent, on the stressed syllable if...

• Aguda: The word ends in a vowel, N or S.
  • Llana: The word ends in any letter BUT a vowel, N or S.
  • Esdrújula: The word always has an accent mark above the stressed syllable.

Examples of words with accent marks:

• Aguda: belén (stress is on EN in be-LEN)
  • Llana: árbol (stress is on AR in AR-bol)
  • Esdrújula: crepúsculo (stress is on PUS in cre-PUS-cu-lo)

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The word will not have an accent if (rules are simply opposite of those above)

• Aguda: The word doesn´t end in a vowel, N or S
  • Llana: The word ends in a vowel, N or S
  • Esdrújula: As with the above rule, these words ALWAYS have accent marks above the stressed syllable.

Examples of words WITHOUT accent marks:

• Aguda:marcador (stress is on DOR in mar-ca-DOR, but since it ends in an R and not a vowel, N or S, there is no accent)
  • Llana: llamada (stress is on MA in lla-MA-da)
  • Esdrújula: gráfico (the stress is on GRA in GRA-fi-co) These words always have accent marks.

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Also, remember "u and i are weak" meaning that they blend into other vowels when placed beside them, such as "cual" where the more pronounced vowel is the A, and the U just "rides along." If "cual" is used a s a question word, like "which one?" The accent will be on the A. Not the U. Because if you put it on the U, Spanish grammar would tell you to pronounce it "coo-ahl" which we know isn´t right!

Nice explanation! - 005faa61, Apr 27, 2012

A clear summary and exemplary English. However I do not see why it is necessary to describe when words do not have an accent, given that the rules were already stated. For extra clarity? - Heitor, Apr 27, 2012

Yes, to back up what I previously stated. - missy8888, Apr 27, 2012

Great! - --Mariana--, Apr 27, 2012

This is closed because it has run it's course . - ray76, Jun 6, 2015

Answer 1

The second part of the explanation is incorrect.

The rules are:

Aguda (accent on last syllable) - word ends in consonant other than n or s Ex: crucial [kru-si-'al] edad [e-'ðað]

Llana (accent on second to last syllable) - word ends in vowel, n or s Ex: encima [en-'si-ma] comen ['ko-men]

Answer 2

You know, at my age, as a beginning Spanish learner, I am absolutely no good with rules. I did learn one, though, from the Michel Thomas audio course. It's the "NOSE" rule. If a word ends with N or S, or any vowel, the stress (normally) goes on the second-to-last syllable. If it ends with anything else, the stress is (normally) on the last syllable.

Now, if there's a word that "violates" the NOSE rule, you need the accent. Example: "esta" can mean "that" or "he/she/it is." The first one is pronounced "ES-tah." It follows the NOSE rule, no accent required. The second is pronounced "es-TAH" which violates the NOSE rule, so you need the accent, i.e., "está."

That simple rule has helped me immensely. Hope it helps you.

I was confused before, now I am utterly and irrefutably confundido. I may never fully recover from this . - ray76, Oct 24, 2015

Answer 3

Nice post.... Thanks.

Answer 4

Buenísima explicación.