Accent Mark Rules

Why do accent marks exist? the last letter of the word will determine where the emphasis should be

1)If a word ends in a vowel or the consonants n or s, the emphasis should be on the next to last syllable. cla│se pin│tu│ra co│lo│res e│xa │ men ***If the word follows the rule, no accent mark is needed. If it does not follow the rule, then an accent mark must be placed on the syllable where the emphasis is now located. ***

If the rule is not followed, an accent mark must be added. al │ge │bra in │gles sep │ti │mo de │ci │mo a │lli a │qui álgebra allí décimo séptimo aquí inglés

2)If a word ends in any other consonant aside from n or s, the emphasis should be on the last syllable. ha │blar di │bu │jar re │loj ***If the word follows the rule, no accent mark is needed. If it does not follow the rule, then an accent mark must be placed on the syllable where the emphasis is now located.***

If the rule is not followed, an accent mark must be added. di │fi │cil fa │cil ar │bol fácil difícil árbol

Diphthongs and Hiatos Vocales débiles – u, i –weak vowels Vocales fuertes – a, e, o – strong vowels

Diphthong A diphthong is a combination of a weak and a strong vowel or two weak. It makes only one sound. Ex. ui, iu, ai, ia, ie, io, ei, oi,au, ua, ue, eu, ou, uo Ex. farmacia → far│ma│cia gracias → gra │ cias ciudad → ciu │dad **If a diphthong is broken, and even though it may follow one of the two basic rules, you must show that it has been broken with an accent mark on the weaker vowel.

Diphthong Ex. fo│to│gra│fi│a – This example follows rule number one but the diphthong no longer makes only one sound. It makes two. So, an accent mark must be added to show that the diphthong has been broken. fotografía Ex. tra│i│do- follows rule number one, but -ai is a diphthong and it is now broken. To show that it has been broken, you must add an accent mark to the weaker vowel. Ex. traído

Hiatos A hiato is a combination of two strong vowels and it makes two sounds. Ex. le│on│es- leones - emphasis is where it should be – Ex. le│er - leer –follows accent mark rules Ex. le│on – león - first rule has been broken, so an accent mark must be added to the –o Ex. tra│er – traer – follows rules, no accent mark needed

Accent marks are important!!! Ex. hablo vs. habló hablo- I speak habló- he/she speaks or you speak (form.)