El acento español

There are three purposes to the written acento.

• To indicate to a reader what syllable to put the stress on a word if it doesn't conform to the general rules of pronunciation in Spanish. (Lessons 1 to 3)
• To distinguish certain words that are pronounced the same one another. (Lesson 4)
• In words containing two or three vowels in succession, to tell whether the vowels should compressed into a single syllable or broken up into several. (Lesson 5)

Rule 1

Don't put a written accent on words with a stress on their last syllable (the Real Academia de la Lengua Espanola call them palabras agudas) unless they end with a consonant other than n or s.

If they end with an n or an s, or with a vowel, you need to put the written accent on the stressed vowel.

Examples:

• comer
• profesor
• Madrid
• animal

BUT

• comió
• será
• comilón
• organización
• aquí
• estás
• mamá
• sofás

Rule 2

With words that have their stress on their second to last syllable (The Real Academia call these ones palabras graves or palabras llanas), the rule is the other way around: they should be given a written accent if they end with a consonant other than n or s. And if they end with an n, an s or a vowel, then you shouldn't mark the stress in writing.

Examples:

• azúcar
• lápiz
• cárcel
• fútbol

BUT

• barco
• cama
• dinero
• naranjas
• galleta
• alguien
• terminan
• Carmen

There is, however, an exception you'll probably need to remember: with palabras llanas that end with n or s, if the n or s is preceded by a consonant, then you'll need to mark the stressed syllable with a written accent after all.

This often affects words with a recent origin in a foreign language (or Latin).

For example:

• bíceps
• wéstern
• cómics

Rule 3

Words with a stress on their third from last syllable (called palabras esdrújulas by the Real Academia) always have a written accent.

Examples:

• guapísimo
• pájaro
• célula
• esdrújula

Words with the stress before the third-last syllable (palabras sobreesdrújulas) also need their stressed syllable to be marked with a written accent.

As always, though, (¿cómo no?) there is an exception. Luckily for us, it's pretty easy to remember:

• adverbs ending with -mente don't need a written accent unless the adjective that forms their root needs one.

Effectively what this rule means is that you should add -mente (as required by the applicable rules), leaving any written accent that was already on the root untouched.

SO ...

• velozmente
• claramente

BUT ...

• simpáticamente (because simpática – as a palabra esdrújula – already has an accent without the -mente ending!)
• útilmente (because, útil – as a palabra llana ending with a consonant other than n or s – already accent without the -mente ending!)
• cortésmente (because, cortés – as a palabra aguda ending with an s – already needs a written accent!)

Some very commonly used (and mostly short) words have a written accent when used in one sense and have none when used in another. It's there to distinguish between the two meanings. An acento used for this purpose is called an acento diacrítico.

The following are some of the most common ones:

Examples:

• dé (from the verb dar) vs. de (of)
• sé (from the verb ser) vs. se (reflexive pronoun)
• él (as a pronoun) vs. el (the definite article)
• tú (you) vs tu (your)
• mí (me) vs mi (my)
• té (tea) vs. te (you)
• qué (as a question word – in direct or indirect questions) vs. que (as a relative pronoun)
• quién/quiénes (as a question word) vs. quien/quienes (as a relative pronoun)
• cuándo vs. cuando (see above)
• cuánto/cuántos vs. cuanto/cuandos
  cuánta/cuántas vs. cuanta/cuantas (see above)
• cuál/cuáles vs. cual/cuales (see above)
• por qué vs. porque (see above)
• cómo vs. como (like, as in similar to)
• más (more) vs. mas (but)
• solo (alone) vs. sólo (only)
• sí (yes) vs. si (if)
• aún (still, even) vs. aun (despite)

The first thing to say under this category is that dipthongs and tripthongs follow the same rules about when to add a written acento as any other vowels. But when there are two or three vowels written one after another, on which of them do you put the acento?

Well the key to this problem lies in remembering that Spanish grammaticians split the vowels into strong ones (a, e and o) and weak ones (i and u).

Dipthongs are always either a combination of two weak vowels or of one weak and one strong vowel. Two strong vowels written together are always pronounced as two separate syllables (sea).

Tripthongs are always a combination of weak-strong-weak vowels. Any other combination of three vowels together will automatically be spoken using at least two syllables.

So (brace yourself!), the rules on where to put your acento, if one is needed, are as follows:

• in dipthongs with two weak vowels, put the acento on the second of them (veintiún)
• in dipthongs with one weak and one strong vowel, put the acento on the strong one (com-ió)
• in tripthongs, put the acento on the strong vowel, which will always be in the middle (com-iáis)
• if you place an acento anywhere else, it will
  1. break the combination into two syllables
  2. put the word's stress on the syllable you've marked with the acento (sa-lí-ais)