Accentuation and Syllabication

Syllabication—Silabeo Syllables usually end in a vowel. ca-sa ba-su-ra dro-ga

Syllabication—Silabeo A diphthong is never seperated unless the stress of the word falls on the weak vowel of a strong-weak vowel combination. a-mue-blar ciu-dad ju-lio Note: dí-a

Syllabication—Silabeo Two consonants are usually separated. Remember that ch, ll, and rr are each a single consonant in Spanish. al-qui-ler por-te-ro ca-le-fac-ción Note: pe-rro lla-mar

Syllabication—Silabeo The consonants l and r are never separated from the preceding consonant, except from the letter s. po-si-ble a-cla-rar a-bri-go Note: ais-lar

Syllabication—Silabeo When there is a cluster of three consonants, the first two stay with the preceding vowel unless the third consonant is an l or an r, in which case the last two consonants stay with the vowel that follows.

Syllabication—Silabeo Examples: ins-ti-tu-ción Note: ex-pli-car des-crip-ción

Syllabication—Silabeo When there is a cluster of four consonants, they are always divided between the second and third consonants. ins-crip-ción ins-truc-ción

Stress—Acentuatión If a word ends in –n, –s, or a vowel, the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. la-va-pla-tos ex-a-men ho-la a-par-ta-men-to

Stress—Acentuación If a word ends in any consonant other than –n or –s, the stress falls on the last syllable. es-pa-ñol us-ted pro-hi-bir re-gu-lar

Stress—Acentuación Any exception to rules 1 and 2 has a written accent mark on the stressed vowel. te-le-vi-sión te-lé-fo-no ál-bum cen-tí-me-tro Note: na-ción, but na-cion-es

Stress—Acentuación Question and exclamation words always have accents. ¿cómo? ¿dónde? ¿cuál? ¿qué?

Stress—Acentuación Certain words change their meaning when written with an accent although the pronunciation remains the same.

Stress—Acentuación cómo how como like dé give de of, from él he/him el (command) de of, from él he/him el the más more mas but mí me mi my

Stress—Acentuación sé I know se sí yes si if sólo only (adv.) solo 3rd person pronoun sí yes si if sólo only (adv.) solo alone té tea te you (reflexive pronoun) tú tu your

Stress—Acentuación Demonstrative pronouns usually have a written accent to distinguish them from demonstrative adjectives. este niño éste estas blusas éstas

Diphthongs—Diptongos A diphthong is a combination of a weak vowel (i, u) and a strong vowel (a, e, o) or the combination of two weak vowels in the same syllable.

Diphthongs—Diptongos When two vowels are combined, the strong vowel or the second of the weak vowels takes a slightly greater stress in the syllable.

Diphthongs—Diptongos Examples: vuelvo automático tiene conciencia ciudad

Diphthongs—Diptongos When the stress of the word falls on the weak vowel of a strong-weak combination, the weak vowel takes a written accent mark to break the diphthong. No diphthong occurs because the vowels belong to different syllables.

Diphthongs—Diptongos Examples: pa-ís dí-a tí-o en-ví-o Ra-úl Note: Ma-rio, but Ma-rí-a

Vamos a practicar… example: campeonato cam-pe-o-na-to apice á-pi-ce Determine where the stress falls, if a written accent mark is needed, and how the syllables are divided. example: campeonato cam-pe-o-na-to apice á-pi-ce

Vamos a practicar… cuadro abrazar churros maximiliano geografia terremotos desastres fenomenos faciles sillon

Las respuestas… cua-dro a-bra-zar chu-rros ma-xi-mi-lia-no ge-o-gra-fí-a te-rre-mo-tos de-sas-tres fe-nó-me-nos fá-ci-les si-llón