1. Rules for Stress and Accent Marks in Spanish

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. The Rules of Stress Question words always have a written accent mark.
¿cuál? ¿qué? ¿dónde? ¿quién? ¿cómo? ¿cuánto?