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"Los acentos" is a form of "acento", a noun which is often translated as "accent". "La ortografía" is a form of "ortografía", a noun which is often translated as "spelling". Learn more about the difference between "los acentos" and "la ortografía" below.
el acento(
ah
-
sehn
-
toh
)A masculine noun is used with masculine articles and adjectives (e.g., el hombre guapo, el sol amarillo).
1. (intonation)
a. accent
Misha habla español con un acento ruso pronunciado.Misha speaks Spanish with a pronounced Russian accent.
2. (importance)
a. accent
¿Se escribe así? - No, no lleva acento.Do you spell it like that? - No, it doesn't have an accent on it.
b. stress
¿Dije bien tu nombre? - No, el acento cae en la primera sílaba.Did I pronounce your name right? - No, the stress falls on the first syllable.
c. emphasis
Si cambias el acento, cambias el significado de la palabra.If you change the emphasis, you change the meaning of the word.
la ortografía(
ohr
-
toh
-
grah
-
fee
-
ah
)A feminine noun is almost always used with feminine articles and adjectives (e.g., la mujer bonita, la luna llena).
1. (general)
a. spelling
No te preocupes por la ortografía al escribir el primer borrador.Don't worry about spelling when writing your first draft.
b. orthography (formal)
A word or phrase used to refer to the second person formal “usted” by their conjugation or implied context (e.g., usted).
Estás confundiendo la ortografía con la fonología. Una letra no es un sonido.You're confusing orthography with phonology. A letter is not a sound.
