Accent Marks in Spanish - Swampscott High School

Accent Marks in Spanish
Syllable count
General Rule: 1 vowel = 1 syllable
Patata (3)
Libro (2)
Interrogar (4)
órgano (3)
Explanada (4)
Los (1)
The above rule works really well when vowels are separated by consonants and/or spaces. But
what happens when you have two vowels together? Before I answer that, we need to know that
vowels in Spanish are divided into weak and strong vowels:
Weak vowels: i, u, y (U & I are weak)
Strong vowels: a, e, o (tener bola)
The following must be taking into account when looking at two vowels together:
Diphthong: 2 vowels counts as 1 syllable. (Marriage)
They occur when:

You have a combination of 1 strong + 1 weak vowel or vice versa.

You have a combination of 2 weak vowels (The stressed one is always the second one).
Puerto (2)
Acción (2)
Huida (2)
Ciudad (2)
Frio (1)
Veinte (2)
Hiatus: 2 vowels count as 2 separate syllables. (Divorce)
They occur when:

You have a combination of 2 strong vowels

You have a combination of 1 strong + 1 weak stressed vowel or vice versa.
Extraordinario (6)
Leo (2)
frío (2)
aéreo (4)
aeropuerto (5)
jardinería (5)
Note: Because “h” is not pronounced, diphthongs and hiatuses occur around the silent “h”:
alcohol (3), búho (2), truhán (1), prohibido (3), prohíbo (3)
Stress rules

When a word ends in vowel, “n” or “s”, the stress should be on the previous to last
syllable.

Extraordinario (6)
tesis (2)
joven (2)
Ella (2)
aeropuertos (5)
origen (3)
When a word ends in a consonant other than “n” or “s”, the stress should be on the
last syllable.
Reloj (2)
fenomenal (4)
doctor (2)
comer (2)
ciudad (2)
rapidez (3)
Accent mark rules

One syllable words do not need an accent mark as there is no question as to which
is the stressed syllable. Eg: “el, los, en, por, con, un, de, sin, di, ti, etc.”

The question/exclamation words must have an accent mark when in a question or
exclamation, direct or indirect. Eg:

o
¿Cuándo es la fiesta?
o
¡Qué bonitas fotos!
o
Sabemos cuándo es la fiesta pero no dónde.
o
No sabía qué bonitas fotos tenías del evento.
o
Cuando veas a Juan, dile que quiero un café.
Words that sound the same (have identical pronunciation) and result in the same
combination of letters typically have an accent mark to distinguish them:
Tu vs. tú
Si vs. sí
Mas vs. más
El vs. él
De vs. Dé
Mi vs. mí
Se vs. sé
Te vs té
BUT if the pronunciation is different, such as when they have different stressed
vowels, or are spelled differently, then no accent mark is needed, since they are
different.
Vaca vs baca
Esta vs. está
Frio vs frío

Words that do not follow the stress rules explained above, must receive an accent
mark to indicate which one is the stressed syllable. Eg:
Relámpago (4)
rubí (2)
canción (2)
aéreo (4)
árbol (2)
lápiz (2)
Note: That often when we pluralize words, while the stressed syllable does not change, the
number of syllables does, and this may affect accent mark rules. Eg: “joven” > “jóvenes”,
“canción > canciones”, “árbol > árboles”

If you encounter a combination of 1 weak + 1 strong vowel or vice versa (which
typically results in a diphthong (Marriage)), but the stress falls on the weak vowel, that
vowel must have an accent mark to show the hiatus (Divorce), regardless of what
letter the word ends in.
día (2)
jardinería (5)
baúl (2)
frío (2)
acentúa (4)
raíz (2)
Other “common” cases

Adverbs that end in –mente (when the suffix is added to the femenine form of an
adjective) do not affect the accent mark of the original word, i.e. if the original word
had an accent mark, it keeps it. If it did not have it, it is not added. Eg:

Fácil - fácilmente
Cordial - cordialmente
Rápida - rápidamente
Brusca - bruscamente
Triptongos: As you know, once in a while we come across three vowels in a row in Spanish,
and they could count as one syllable. For this to occur you must have a strong vowel
surrounded by two weak vowels, and the stress cannot be on either of the weak vowel (It
could or not be on the strong, but that does not affect the “union” and the usual stress rules
and accent mark rules are applied). Eg:
Confiáis (2)
vieira (2)
Buey (1)
Paraguay (3)
Veías (3)
PRÁCTICA
Contar y marcar: Estas palabras están escritas correctamente (si necesitan un acento, ya lo tienen. Si no lo
tienen, no lo necesitan). Escribe cuántas sílabas tienen estas palabras, y luego marca la sílaba tónica
insertando una flecha bajo la vocal tónica
1. Juguete
10. Universidad
2. Empujar
11. Estación
3. Lema
12. Veinticuatro
4. difícil
13. Europeo
5. Leal
14. Suizo
6. Leales
15. Abierto
7. Sofá
16. Baile
8. Estudiante
17. Fuerte
9. empleado
18. cuidado
Acentos: Mira estas palabras, la sílaba tónica (the stressed syllable) ha sido marcada. Escribe cuántas
sílabas tiene y decide si necesitan un acento o no.
1. Papel
13. Huesped
2. Papeles
14. Sueter
3. Ladron
15. Guason
4. veinte
16. Ingenuo
5. Dieciseis
17. Miercoles
6. Dolar
18. policia
7. Apostrofe
19. Hotel
8. Parentesis
20. Caracter
9. Estereo
21. Avion
10. Heroe
22. Complicado
11. Maquina
23. Complicacion
12. sintesis
24. interviu