Rules for Stress and Accent Marks in Spanish
The purpose of accents marks. Accent marks tell you which syllable or vowel in a word to stress. Accent marks help distinguish meaning when two words are the same.
The Rules of Stress When a word ends with a vowel, the letter “n” or the letter “s” the second to the last syllable of the word is stressed. examen hablan discos quiero mantequilla estrella
The Rules of Stress When a word ends with a consonant other than “n” or “s”, the last vowel or syllable receives the stress. animal feliz Madrid hablar ciudad calor vivir comer
The Rules of Stress When a word receives stress on a vowel or syllable and does not follow rules 1 and 2, then a written accent mark is used to indicate which vowel or syllable should be stressed. lápiz jóvenes bolígrafo lámpara semáforo música rápido difícil
The Rules of Stress Some words have an accent mark to distinguish them from another word. si = if mí = my té = tea sí = yes mi = me te = to or for you tú = you más = more tu = your mas = but
The Rules of Stress Question words always have a written accent mark. ¿cuál? ¿qué? ¿dónde? ¿quién? ¿cómo? ¿cuánto?