{"id":134929,"date":"2023-09-10T21:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T01:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/spanish-accent-rules\/"},"modified":"2025-02-03T09:30:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T14:30:35","slug":"spanish-accent-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/spanish\/spanish-accent-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Accent Rules (With Examples)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I still remember seeing a big, red strike through my handwritten answer \u201cel ex\u00e1men\u201d<\/em> on my Spanish vocab test. \u201cThere\u2019s only an accent when it\u2019s plural,\u201d my teacher told me.<\/p>\n

I was frustrated, and Spanish accents continued to perplex me until a few years later when I finally learned that accent marks in Spanish follow rules. Let me now teach you\u00a0everything you need to know about Spanish accent rules.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc skip=4]<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Spanish Stress Rules<\/h2>\n

Two basic rules in Spanish tell us where to put the stress of a word. Stress is important, as it can sometimes be the only way to distinguish two words.<\/p>\n

It’s the difference between “insult” (IN-sult), as in “I couldn’t think of a good in<\/b>sult,” and “insult” (in-SULT), as in “She’s going to insult<\/b> me now.”<\/p>\n

The two rules are simple:<\/p>\n

1. For words ending in a vowel, n<\/em> or s<\/em>, spoken stress is on the second-to-last syllable. <\/strong>For example:<\/p>\n

To<\/strong>do<\/em><\/p>\n

Inteligen<\/strong>te<\/em><\/p>\n

Exa<\/strong>men<\/em><\/p>\n

J<\/strong><\/em>o<\/strong>ven<\/em><\/p>\n

2. For words that end in all other consonants (not n\u00a0<\/em>or s<\/em>),<\/em> the stress falls on the last syllable. <\/strong>For example:<\/p>\n

Comer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Ciudad<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Profesor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Madrid<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you’re new to stressing syllables, try this\u00a0listening\/speaking exercise<\/a> to practice hearing the stress in various Spanish words.<\/p>\n

How to Use the Spanish Acute Accent Mark<\/h2>\n

The acute accent mark in Spanish is a slanted line that appears above vowels, and is used to indicate stress or emphasis in a word. The presence of an acute accent mark on a vowel generally highlights the syllable that is stressed.<\/p>\n

Used on words that break the spoken stress rules<\/h3>\n

Here are some examples of Spanish words with accent marks that break the rule that for words ending in a vowel, “n”<\/em> or “s”<\/em>, spoken stress is on the second-to-last syllable. You\u2019ll notice none of the stresses fall on the second to last syllable, as they normally would.<\/p>\n

La canci\u00f3n<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 song<\/p>\n

Tambi\u00e9n<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 also<\/p>\n

Los cr\u00ed<\/strong>menes<\/em> \u2014 crimes<\/p>\n

Jam\u00e1s<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 never<\/p>\n

I<\/em>ngl\u00e9s<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 English<\/p>\n

R<\/em><\/strong>\u00e1<\/strong>pido<\/em> \u2014 fast<\/p>\n

E<\/em>st\u00e1<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 he\/she\/it is<\/p>\n

And here are examples of words that break the rule that for words that end consonants that aren’t “n”<\/em> or “s”<\/em>, the stress falls on the last syllable. These are words that end in a consonant (not \u201cn\u201d<\/em> or \u201cs\u201d<\/em>), but whose accent does not fall on the final syllable.<\/p>\n

E<\/em>l \u00e1rbol<\/em> \u2014 tree<\/p>\n

L<\/em>a c\u00e1rcel<\/em> \u2014 jail\/prison<\/p>\n

E<\/em>l c\u00e9sped<\/em> \u2014 grass<\/p>\n

D<\/em>\u00e9bil<\/em> \u2014 weak<\/p>\n

Used to differentiate between homonyms<\/h3>\n

Accent marks in Spanish are also used to differentiate between words that are pronounced (and therefore spelled) the same but that have different meanings: homonyms.<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are some examples of common Spanish homonyms:<\/p>\n

D<\/em>e<\/em> \u2014 of, from
\nD<\/em>\u00e9<\/em>\u00a0 \u2014 give (third-person singular subjunctive form of dar)<\/i><\/p>\n

E<\/em>l<\/em> \u2014\u00a0 the (masculine article)
\n\u00c9l<\/em> \u2014 he<\/p>\n

M<\/em>as<\/em> \u2014 but
\nM<\/em>\u00e1s<\/em> \u2014 more<\/p>\n

S<\/em>e<\/em> \u2014 (reflexive and indirect object pronoun)
\nS<\/em>\u00e9<\/em> \u2014 I know<\/p>\n

S<\/em>i<\/em> \u2014 if
\nS<\/em>\u00ed<\/em> \u2014 yes<\/p>\n

T<\/em>e<\/em> \u2014 you (object)
\nT<\/em>\u00e9<\/em> \u2014 tea<\/p>\n

T<\/em>u<\/em> \u2014 your
\nT<\/em>\u00fa<\/em> \u2014 you (subject)<\/p>\n

Used on question words<\/h3>\n

Spanish accents are\u00a0also found on all interrogative words<\/a> when used in a question, indirect question or embedded question.<\/p>\n

\u00bfQui\u00e9n?<\/em> \u2014 who?<\/p>\n

\u00bfQu\u00e9?<\/em> \u2014 what? \/ which?<\/p>\n

\u00bfD\u00f3nde?<\/em> \u2014 where?<\/p>\n

\u00bfCu\u00e1ndo?<\/em> \u2014 when?<\/p>\n

\u00bfPor qu\u00e9?<\/em> \u2014 why?<\/p>\n

\u00bfC\u00f3mo?<\/em> \u2014 how?<\/p>\n

\u00bfCu\u00e1l?<\/em> \u2014 which?<\/p>\n

\u00bfCu\u00e1nto?<\/em> \u2014 how much?<\/p>\n

\u00bfCu\u00e1ntos?<\/em> \u2014 how many?<\/p>\n

Regular questions are fairly basic and easy to spot, but let’s take a look at a few of these words in detail, along with some examples of indirect and embedded questions.<\/p>\n

Indirect and embedded questions carry accents<\/h4>\n

Whenever “cu\u00e1nto(s)<\/strong><\/em>” means “how much\/many,” it carries an accent:<\/p>\n

No s\u00e9 cu\u00e1ntos<\/strong> hay<\/em>. \u2014 I don’t know how many<\/strong> there are.<\/p>\n

When the word “c\u00f3mo<\/em><\/strong>” translates to “how,” it carries an accent\u2014no matter where it falls in the sentence. (Without the accent, “como<\/em>” means “like” or “as”.)<\/p>\n

No entiendo c\u00f3mo<\/strong> lo hace<\/em>. \u2014 I don’t understand how<\/strong> he does it.<\/p>\n

Likewise, when “qu\u00e9” means an interrogative “what,” it must carry an accent.<\/p>\n

No s\u00e9 qu\u00e9<\/strong> hacer<\/em>. \u2014 I don’t know what<\/strong> to do.<\/p>\n

How to Use the Spanish Diaeresis<\/h2>\n

The diaeresis consists of two dots placed over a vowel. In Spanish, it can only be placed over the letter “u.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Used to pronounce the letter “u”<\/em> in syllables\u00a0gue, gui<\/em><\/h3>\n

Sometimes the letter “u”<\/em> can be silent! This happens when the vowel is inside syllables que,<\/em> qui,<\/em> gue,<\/em> or gui,<\/em> where only the second vowel is pronounced. For instance:<\/p>\n

Arquero<\/em> \u2014 archer<\/p>\n

Mezquino<\/em> \u2014 stingy<\/p>\n

Hoguera<\/em> \u2014 bonfire<\/p>\n

Gui\u00f1o<\/em> \u2014 wink<\/p>\n

Some words do need the “u”<\/em> to have a sound, though, so to “break the silence” and ensure the “u”<\/em> is pronounced distinctly, the diaeresis is added:<\/p>\n

Ag\u00fcero<\/em> \u2014 omen<\/p>\n

Ping\u00fcino<\/em> \u2014 penguin<\/p>\n

Just to be clear: gue<\/em> and gui<\/em> are the only<\/strong> syllables where you could find a diaeresis, as the “u”<\/em> is always pronounced in every other letter combination. As for q\u00fce<\/em> and q\u00fci\u2014<\/em>don’t worry, there are no words with such syllables, so you’ll never see a “\u00fc”<\/em> after a “q”<\/em>!<\/p>\n

Acuerdo<\/em>\u00a0 \u2014 agreement<\/p>\n

Babuino<\/em>\u00a0 \u2014 baboon<\/p>\n

If you want to see how the Spanish diaeresis accent mark, as well as the rest of the above accent marks, affect pronunciation, you could try using a language learning program such as FluentU<\/a>.

FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n

<\/p> \r\n

You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n

P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n \"FluentU\r\n

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