"E" with an Accent

Quick Answer

e+ tilde(written accent) = é

The letter e with a tilde is used for many different purposes in Spanish, such as marking word stress, distinguishing between otherwise identical words, differentiating between tenses, and distinguishing between sentence types.

É and Word Stress

Accent marks are small, but we mustn't ignore them. They are essential in helping us pronounce words correctly! When the Spanish letter e carries a tilde, we pronounce it with greater emphasis. In the word élite(elite), for example, the tilde over the e is necessary so that we know which syllable to stress.

Furthermore, sometimes adding a tilde over the letter e is necessary to differentiate between words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. For example, él(he) vs. el(the).

Let’s take a look at the various types of words that use an e with a tilde:

Types of words	Description	Examples
palabras agudas	Words that are stressed on the last syllable. Write a tilde on the e when the word ends in a vowel, an n, or an s.	café(coffee), inglés(English), belén(Nativity scene)
palabras graves	Words that are stressed on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable. Write a tilde on the e when the word ends in a consonant other than n or s.	césped(lawn), débil(weak), Pérez(Perez)
palabras esdrújulas	Words that are stressed on the antepenultimate* (third-to-last) syllable.*	América(America), miércoles(Wednesday), séptimo(seventh)
palabras sobresdrújulas	Words that are stressed on the fourth-to-last, fifth-to-last, or sixth-to-last syllable.	cuéntamelo(tell me), devuélveselo(give it back to him/her), éticamente(ethically)

É and Tenses

Adding a tilde over the e also helps us distinguish between various tenses in Spanish. One little tilde can change the tense of the verb.

Let's take a closer look!

Tense	With or without a tilde?	Example	Translation
present subjunctive	without a tilde	Lave los platos.	Wash the dishes. (formal)
preterite	with a tilde	Lavé los platos.	I washed the dishes

É and Sentence Types

Sometimes tildes can differentiate between sentence types. Let’s take a look at how adding or omitting the tilde on the letter e changes the type of sentence.

Type of Sentence	With or without a tilde?	Spanish	English
Question	with a tilde	¿Qué es eso?	What is that?
Exclamation	with a tilde	¡Qué grande es ese perro!	That dog's so big!
Command	without a tilde	Que pase.	Come in.
Statement	without a tilde	Esa no es la camisa que me gusta	That's not the shirt I like.

É and Parts of Speech

Lastly, adding a tilde on the letter e can help differentiate parts of speech.

Take a look at how one accent can change the part of speech of a word, ultimately changing how it is used in a sentence.

Part of speech	Spanish	English	Part of speech	Spanish	English
reflexive pronoun	se	himself, herself, itself, themselves	present tense verb	sé	I know
definite article	el	the	subject pronoun	él	he
pronoun	te	you, to/for you, yourself	noun	té	tea
preposition	de	of/from	present subjunctive verb	dé	I/you give, he/she gives

Check out these examples:

examples
Él es mi mejor amigo. He is my best friend.
El payaso está haciendo malabarismos. The clown is juggling.
Mis abuelos vienen de Italia. My grandparents are from Italy.
Ojalá que me dé su número. I hope she gives me her number.

Writing/Typing an Accent over the E

Adding an accent over the letter e on paper is simple. It is written from the top right to the bottom left.

To type é on your keyboard, you can copy and paste é, use the character code Alt + 0233, or learn the keyboard shortcuts on your Mac or PC.

Take a look at how to type é on your Mac or PC!

On a PC

There are several keyboard shortcuts you can use for Spanish letters and punctuation on your PC. Please note that these shortcuts sometimes only work on newer computers and may only work in Microsoft Office.

If you’re using Office for Windows, use the following shortcut:

For an é, press Ctrl + ', then the e.

On a Mac

To get the é on a Mac, hold down the Option/Alt key (⌥), and press the e key. Then, release both keys and press the e key again.

If you write in Spanish often, we recommend going into your settings and adding the US International keyboard. This keyboard layout supports all major Western European languages, and it uses the right Alt key as a modifier for special characters.

Would you like to learn more about accents and word stress in Spanish? Check out these articles!