Is it vi or ví and is it vio or vió ?

Question

In the book Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish the author uses the accent mark on ví and vió, meaning I saw and he/she saw (preterite). But in Barron's 501 Spanish Verbs, 7th, the accent marks are not used. Which is correct?

Welcome to SpanishDict. - rac1, Nov 2, 2015

There was also "dió" but they dropped the accent on that one as well. - Daniela2041, Nov 3, 2015

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Answer 1

Since 1959 I believe these forms of the verb are normally written without the accent.

That is my understanding as well. :) - bosquederoble, Nov 2, 2015

I'm glad to say I looked this up, in 1959 I was not old enough to be interested in accents in foreign languages. - annierats, Nov 2, 2015

Did the Real Academia Español in Spain decide to make this worldwide change? - ronaldup, Nov 2, 2015

Yes it was a decision by that organization. But one I think everyone follows nowadays, unlike changes such as éste, or sólo only needing an accent if it would create confusion to not put it. :) - bosquederoble, Nov 2, 2015

Wait what? Where do people not put accents on "sólo"? - HackerKing, Nov 2, 2015

http://spanish.stackexchange.com/questions/1123/when-does-sólo-have-an-accent - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2015

It's when sólo means "solamente" - Daniela2041, Nov 3, 2015

http://www.rae.es/consultas/el-adverbio-solo-y-los-pronombres-demostrativos-sin-tilde - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2015

Per RAE solo meaning solamente only has to have an accent if it could be confused with the other meaning, and if it is clear it does not have to have it. - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2015

Actually as I read the RAE site, it seems to say that you don't have to use them even if they can be confused. - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2015

Por eso, a partir de ahora se podrá prescindir de la tilde en estas formas incluso en casos de ambigüedad. La recomendación general es, pues, la de no tildar nunca estas palabras. - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2015

You lost your time. Probably less than 1% of the Spanish people know when it is necessary to accent "sólo". Nobody is going to correct you never. - txustaboy, Nov 3, 2015

Good news, txta, I never now when to put it either.. - annierats, Nov 3, 2015

True. Outside of this site, I almost never use accents online. Using them basically means "this conversation is formal" - HackerKing, Nov 3, 2015

Trabajo solo los viernes. Do I work alone on Fridays, or only work on Fridays. :) - bosquederoble, Nov 3, 2015

Answer 2

You have definitely been doing your homework Ronaldup. Good job