1. Accent Marks in Spanish

2. manzana hablan problemas
Stress: Vowel, N, or S
If the word ends in a vowel, an -n, or an -s, the second-to-last syllable is stressed:
manzana
hablan
problemas

3. Stress: Other Consonants
If the word ends in a consonant other than -n or -s, the last syllable is stressed:
felicidad
hablar
sensacional

4. Stress: Accent Marks inglés habló árbol
If we break the previous rules, we must use an accent mark to indicate stress:
inglés
habló
árbol

5. Practice: Which needs an accent?
carcel camino camino caminamos
cancion canciones

6. Accent Marks & Conjugations
Accent marks on verb conjugations are important:
escucho ≠ escuchó
escuchara ≠ escuchará

7. Accent Marks & Pronouns
When we add pronouns, we often need to add an accent mark:
mandar → mandármelo
mandando → mandándolo
manda → mándalo

8. Accent Marks & Pronouns
But not always:
dar → darlo

9. Accent Marks & Homonyms
Pronounced the same, different meanings:
de vs. dé
el vs. él
mas vs. más
que vs. qué
se vs. sé
si vs. sí
te vs. té
tu vs. tú

10. Accent Marks & Questions
Interrogative words have accents:
¿Quién?
¿Qué?
¿Cuándo?
¿Dónde?
¿Por qué?
¿Cómo?
¿Cuál?
¿Cuánto?

11. Accent Marks & Diphthongs
Diphthongs are two vowels that blend together to form one syllable:
hablais
bien
cuaderno

12. Accent Marks & Diphthongs
Accents break diphthongs into two syllables:
país
sonreír
heroína

13. Notes Accents are only used with vowels.
Accents are drawn from the lower left to the upper right.
Not all words need accent marks; words with accent marks will have only one.
If a syllable other than the last or second-to-last is stressed, the word must have an accent mark.

14. Notes
Borrowed words often don't have accents. For example: Internet and sandwich.
Capital letters are often not accented even though they should be.
Numbers: "Necesito 2 ó 3 bolígrafos."

15. — fin —