Do you know where accents go in Spanish? You could memorize them word by word, or you can just learn a few rules. ´

*A*A n accent mark is a red flag that the rules of stress are not being followed.

First you need to know how to divide words into syllables. The rules are slightly different from English. Step 1: Count syllables First, Spanish has STRONG vowels and WEAK vowels. aeo iu Strong VowelsWeak Vowels Strong vowels (a, e, o) are short and round. Weak vowels (i, u) are tall and thin.

Step 2: Divide the words into syllables In Spanish, a syllable usually ends with a vowel, like this: li broor so bri no Exceptions! 1. Don’t split ch, ll, or rr. They’re separate letters in Spanish. 2. Do not divide any consonant next to l or r, unless it’s an s. con ti nú e de mo cra cia ver siónem ple a do

* analfabetismo * tecnología * inmigración * espectacular * Oír * o ír * Traer * tra er * Argentina * presidente

* Emperador * em per a dor * Específico * es pe cí fi co * inglés * Comes * co mes * Alemán * a le mán * hablan

* Accent marks show the word stress when the word stress breaks the normal rules. * There are specific rules for accent marks.

Step 3: Learn what accents can do. Accents serve several different purposes! a) They move the stress from where it should be based on the stress rules to where it actually is when pronounced. a zu car ´ ul ti mo ´ in te res ´

b) They turn a weak vowel into a strong vowel so that it can form a separate syllable. diadí aac tuanac tú an c) They distinguish certain words from others. Si = if sí = yes de = of/from dé = give!

d) They make a word interrogative.

Step 4: Learn the stress rules. Now that the syllables are divided, see where the stress should go when the word is pronounced.

* When a weak and a strong vowel, or two weak vowels come together, they create one sound and one syllable, called a dipthong (diptongo en español). * We’ll stick with diptongo. * Con tri buir * Oi go * Trai go

* If a word has a diptongo that is separated, there is an accent mark to show it: * If a strong and weak vowel appear together but do not form a syllable, the weak vowel carries a written accent to break the diphthong. * flúido, río, vía, oído, oír, maíz, día, había, Raúl, río

*W*W hen two strong vowels come together they make two separate syllables: eg: ta re a, ca er, po e ma, pe or

*W*W ords ending in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), n or s are stressed on the second to the last syllable (penultimate in English, la sílaba penúltima en español): casa, libro, mesa, coche, madre, lunes, joven, mariscos *T*T hese words that are stressed on the next to the last syllable are called graves.

*I*I f these words followed the rules, they would have the stress on the penultimate (second to the last) syllable: comí, miércoles, cuídate, vivió, estación *T*T hey don’t follow that rule, so there is an accent mark to show where the stress actually falls.

Words ending in a consonant (not including n and s) are stressed on the last syllable: papel, verdad, nearly all infinitives * Words that are stressed on the last syllable are called agudas.

* These words should have their stress on the last syllable. Since they don’t, there is an accent mark to indicate where the stress actually falls: lápiz, clímax, difícil

WW ords that are stressed on the third to the last syllable are called esdrújulas. All esdrújula words carry a written accent. All esdrújula words carry a written accent. aa éreo artículo católico esdrújula estómago magnífico

Accent marks that are used to differentiate between some words: si – if sí - yes mi – my mí - me * el - the él - he tu - your tú - you * más = more * mas = but

* Abierto * adios * Adiós * alguien * Alguien * almacen * almacén * arbol * árbol * Bateria * Batería * buzon * Buzó * caida * caída * champu * Champú * concierto

* despues * después * diablo * dificil * difícil * ingles * inglés * lástima * lastima

* miercoles * Miércoles * nariz * Nariz * oracion * Oración * pais * País * perdon * perdón

* platano * plátano * policia * policía * Rascacielos * razon * razón * recamara * recámara *

* Reservacion * reservación * rancho * Sandia * sandía * Semaforo * septimo * Séptimo * metaforo * metáforo *

* tambien * también * tenedor * todavia * Todavía * unico * Único * Viaje * viaje *