|
Spanish Accents
Spanish
words have only one phonetic stress. This stress is marked with a
written accent ( ´ ) according to the following fixed rules.
Rule
1.
Words stressed in the last syllable have a written accent on it only if
the last letter ends in "n", "s", or
vowel. These words are named "agudas".
For
example:
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
verás |
ve-rás |
japonés |
ja-po-nés |
|
marqués |
mar-qués |
balancín |
ba-lan-cín |
|
bufón |
bu-fón |
menú |
me-nú |
|
bailarín |
bai-la-rín |
veintidós |
vein-ti-dós |
Rule
2.
Words stressed on the next to last syllable need an accent on it if
the last letter is any consonant, except "n" or "s".
These words are named "graves"
For
example:
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
mártir |
már-tir |
útil |
ú-til |
|
árbol |
ár-bol |
néctar |
néc-tar |
|
lápiz |
lá-piz |
túnel |
tú-nel |
|
débil |
dé-bil |
trébol |
tré-bol |
|
dátil |
dá-til |
cáliz |
cá-liz |
Exceptions:
Words that end in "ps", like "fórceps" and
"bíceps".
Rule
3.
Words which stress two syllables before the last one need an accent on it
regardless of the last letter. These words are named "esdrújulas".
For
example:
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
cámara |
cá-ma-ra |
estático |
es-tá-ti-co |
|
clásico |
clá-si-co |
estómago |
es-tó-ma-go |
|
pálido |
pá-li-do |
águila |
á-gui-la |
|
lámpara |
lám-pa-ra |
crédito |
cré-di-to |
|
pronóstico |
pro-nós-
ti-co |
rápido |
rá-pi-do |
Rule
4.
Words with stress three syllables before the last need an accent on it
regardless of the last letter. These words are named "sobresdrújulas".
For
example:
Word
|
Syllable separation
|
|
Word
|
Syllable
separation
|
|
poniéndoselo |
po-nién-do-se-lo |
marcándotelo |
mar-cán-do-te-lo |
| empacándomelo |
em-pa-cán-do-me-lo |
tomándoselo |
to-mán-do-se-lo |
|
