Accents in Spanish

Question

Does anyone know how what the accents do in spanish? Nobody seems to know. I know it is something to do with stress but it would be great if somebody could talk me through it.

Answer 1

Nobody seems to know? I do.

They tell you where to stress words. For example, in English, do you say seROtonin, seroTOnin or serotoNIN? If you have never heard the word, you can only guess. In Spanish the accents tell you how it should be stressed.

Answer 2

If you click on the reference tab, then select Spanish Grammar and click on 'accents' under the Pronunciation heading, it gives the rules.
Mind you, you will probably have to look up the words esdrújulas and sobresdrújulas, I certainly did!

Answer 3

as an example
te or té
te is a personal pronoun, meaning you in some situacions,example,Te voy a dar una taza de té.
translation:
I am going to give you a cup of tea

té means tea

Answer 4

I think your statement about no one seems to know is more than hyperbole. I think it's just wrong. Accent marks are just a pronunciation aid. They tell you where to place the stress in a word when it doesn't follow the normal rules for placing the stress.

http://www.spanishdict.com/reference/grammar/accents