Accentuation in Spanish: á é í ó ú
First, it’s important to review how to pronounce words in Spanish.
EVERY word in Spanish has stress. This is true in English as well. Just think of your name. There is a correct way to pronounce it. For example, if your name is Judy, you would stress the first syllable quite naturally. Let’s try some other examples.
There are three primary rules in Spanish. If a word ends in n, s or a vowel, the stress falls on the next-to-last (penultimate) syllable. Examples: hablan, comes, casa, muchacho, examen, apartamento
Rule 2: If a word ends in any consonant other than n or s, the stress falls on the last syllable. Examples: español, usted, regular, subir
Examples: teléfono, álbum, centímetro, ratón Rule 3: Any exception to rules 1 and 2 requires a written accent on the stressed vowel. Examples: teléfono, álbum, centímetro, ratón
Question and Exclamation Words… Always require a written accent: Examples: ¿Cómo? ¿Cuándo? ¿Qué?
Sometimes an accent mark is needed to change the meaning of a word. Examples: tú = you / tu = your Él = he / el = the
Dipthongs: A dipthong is the combination of two vowels that only form one syllable. Examples: vuelvo, tiene, ciudad
Dipthongs cot’d. When the dipthong is broken up because it has two syllables, it is no longer a dipthong and if the stress falls on a weak vowel (i or u), it requires a written accent. Examples: país, día, envío, Raúl
In other words… Whenever you see two vowels together, keep them as one single syllable. Then, test out the rules that you learned about word stress. If it breaks the rule, an accent mark is required. Examples: día, país, canción, comía Piano, rueda,
Let’s test it out… Bai lar Bailar Rule 2 Stress the next-to-last syllable. Do we need an accent mark?
Let’s try another one… Cancion Can cion Rule 1 Stress the second-to-last syllable Does it require an accent mark?
Vowel Combinations: ai: 1 syllable: (baile) 2 syllables: (país) ia: 1 syllable: (ciudad) 2 syllables: (día) ei: 1 syllable: (peine) 2 syllables (creí) ie: 1 syllable: (piedad) 2 syllables (guié) oi: 1 syllable: (boina) 2 syllables: (oí) io: 1 syllable: (Dios) 2 syllables: (río)
More Vowel Combinations: ui: 1 syllable: (cuidado) 2 syllables: (guía) iu: 1 syllable: (ciudad) 2 syllables ??? au: 1 syllable: (causa) 2 syllables (Raúl) ua: 1 syllable: (cual) 2 syllables (grúa) ue: 1 syllable: (cuento) 2 syllables (???)
More Vowel Combinations: uo: 1 syllable: (cuota) 2 syllables (búho)
Practice: Does the word require an accent? Where? 1. libro 2. bailar 3. lectura 4. Gomez 5. Hernandez 6. papel
Practice: Does the word require an accent? Where? 7. tijeras 8. lapiz 9. mundo 10. hablo 11. caracter 12. ultimo
Does the word require a written accent? Where? 13. arbol 14. matrimonial 15. soldado 16. español 17. frances 18. habito
Does the word require a written accent? Where? 19. llave 20. camino 21. Navidad 22. carcel 23. quizas 24. caminaba
Dipthongs: 1. dia 2. fiesta 3. graduacion 4. cancion 5. tiene 6. Dios
More dipthongs: 7. ruido 8. causa 9. periodo 10. rio