When and Where Should I Place Accent Marks in Spanish

When and Where Should I Place Accent Marks in Spanish?Es un acento o mat otra mosca Andrew?

Stress:Everybody has it and every word with more than one syllable has it.

3 BASIC RULES:Best to memorize these1 If a word ends in a vowel, or 'n' or 's', the stress is usually on the next to the last syllable. (penltima slaba)

Stress:Everybody has it and every word with more than one syllable has it.2. If a word ends in a consonant other than 'n' or 's', the stress is usually on the last syllable. (la ltima slaba)

3. If the stress in a word doesn't follow rules 1 and 2, then the syllable that is stressed needs a written accent mark over the vowel.

-Stress- It is more than what happens when you dont study for that important testIn words with more that one syllable, only one syllable should be stressed. Y apenas ayer, cuando mi hermana Tacha acababa de cumplir doce aos, supimos que la vaca que mi pap le regal para el da de su santo se la haba llevado el ro.Diphthongs in SpanishStrong vowels: a, e, o always form own syllable wherever they appearWeak vowels: u, i - only form own syllable when they are separate from other vowels.RULE: When a weak vowel is next to a strong vowel or another weak vowel, they AUTOMATICALLY form a diphthong = ONE SYLLABLEEXAMPLES OF DIPHTHONGS san-da-lialue-gotie-nediobiense-cre-ta-riabib-lio-te-casie-tecien-ciaspue-blodieznue-vegra-ciasbue-noAn-to-nioe-stu-dia-ntecua-der-no

Circle the stressed syllable on these wordsno - che r - bol bi - go - te pe - rro ca - ba - llo co - ci - nafa - bu - lo - so lib - ro ac - ci - den - te fi - lo - so - f - a es - ta - cio - nes hi - jos cs - ped hue - so sa - ra - pe10Circle the stressed syllable in these words:fri - jolcan - tarhab - l an - dn so - por - tar sen - t ma - ra - tn re - loj an - d baj - sar - tn pin - cel11Adverbs that end in -mente

List of homophonous monosyllablesUNSTRESSED WORDSTRESSED WORDel the ("el anillo")l he, him ("es l", "es para l")te yourself ("Cmo te llamas?")t teasi if s yes, himselfsehimself, herselfsI know, be ("S bueno!")mas but ("quiero, mas no puedo")ms more ("Quieres ms?")que that ("ms que nada")qu what ("Qu piensas?")tuyour ("tu libro")t you ("Cmo ests t?")mi my ("mi casa")m me ("es para m")deofdgivecuanSo (tan) (uso arcaico) ("Mira el pelo cuan largo lo tengo")cunhow ("Cun desgraciado soy! ")cual which ("Esta carta, la cual no tiene remitente, lleg ayer")cul which ("Cul es el mejor?)quien who ("Hay quien dice eso")quin who ("Quin es esa mujer?")NEVER PUT AN ACCENT MARK ON A ONE-SYLLABLE WORD UNLESS YOU ARE AWARE OF THE CORRESPONDING HOMOPHONE THAT DOES NOT NEED AN ACCENT MARK.

To count as a homophonous monosyllabic pair, the two words must:

Be just one syllable long Be spelled the same Belong to two distinct grammatical categories (i.e., nouns, verbs, pronouns, prepositions, etc.)

Changes made in 2010Previous to 2010: Demonstrative pronouns carried a accents over their stressed syllable to distinguish them from demonstrative adjectives. These adjectives always precede nouns, the pronouns never do. EXAMPLES: ESTE, ESA, ESO, AQUEL

Another rule change made in 2010The word slo meant solamente - only, while solo meant alone (masculine singular).

Today, neither word carries an accent mark.It is true that this allows for ambiguity (as in "Juan trabaja solo en la cocina"). However, the new rule reflects an ambiguity that exists in the spoken language and this seems proper.Yet another rule change in2010 The word o (meaning or) carried an accent mark only between numerals so that it was not confused with 0 (zero). "Quiero cinco o seis dulces". vs "Quiero 5 6 dulces". Now, the rule is not to put an accent mark on "o".

The Academy's stated reasoning is that since computer printed text has become so common, there is little chance that an "o" (letter) and a "0" number" will be confused. I have my doubts and I believe users will continue to put an accent on the word "", particularly when writing by hand.Suggestions1. Memorize the three rules2. Memorize verb endings3. Memorize one syllable words that need accents4. Read a lot in Spanish and pay attention to the placement of accent marks.5. After writing in Spanish, proofread your writing before handing in6. Practice, practice, practice7. Relax and do your bestSome youtube videosthese explain more and might helphttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpoXih2Fbt0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdxbgn8ZLrg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywzGFZehsQ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qntSk2_J6G0

CONJUNCTIONS & RELATIVE PRONOUNSINTERROGATIVES

que "that" (Es importante que estudies).qu "what" (Qu deseas comer?)

cuando "when" (Me acuesto cuando tengo sueo.)cundo "when" (Cundo vas a venir?)

como"since/because", "like", "as" (Como tiene gripe, est guardando cama. / Marta baila como una princesa.)cmo"how", "what" (Cmo te llamas?)

donde"where" (Vamos a comer donde vive mi hermano.)dnde"where" (Dnde vives?)

quien"who/that" (Fue Enrique quien rompi la ventana.)quin"who" (Quin escupi en el suelo?)

porque"because" (Paco ayuna porque est de rgimen.)por qu"why" (Por qu hablas tanto?)