As you learn Spanish, you’ll come across rules that are important for writing. In this article by tutor Jason N. you’ll learn all about Spanish accent marks and when to use them…
When I started learning Spanish back in 2008, I ignored accent marks when they appeared. I didn’t know what they meant and I didn’t know how to use them correctly. I guess I just assumed that my word processor would help me automatically place them when I typed in Spanish and that I didn’t need them to fully understand Spanish.
It turned out that I couldn’t have been more wrong, as this only hindered my learning. The good news is that they’re easier to learn than they seem! Understanding Spanish accent marks enables you to appreciate one of the many beautiful aspects of Spanish that makes it unique!
Why Learn About Them?
If you know how to use Spanish accents correctly, you’ll not only impress native speakers, but you also won’t be confused about what a word means when it’s written with or without an accent. Accent placement often changes a word’s meaning. These are called homonyms in Spanish.
Now, let’s establish some simple rules…
4 Rules for Spanish Accent Marks
Rule #1:
Spanish accents are called tildes. They’re only used with five vowels (a, e, i, o, u), and they’re written from lower left to upper right on top:
á, é, í, ó, ú
Rule #2:
When words end in a vowel, n, or s, the “stress” of the word is naturally on the second to last syllable and doesn’t require a tilde:
• gente (gen-te) – people – (stress the first e)
• bonito (bon-i-to) – pretty – (stress the i)
• ponen (pon-en) – they put – (stress the o)
• hablas (hab-las) – you talk – (stress the first a)
Rule #3:
When words end in a consonant that isn’t n or s, the stress naturally falls on the last syllable and doesn’t require a tilde:
• la capital (cap-i-tal) – the capitol – (stress the second a)
• tomar (tom-ar) – to take – (stress the a)
• la edad (e-dad) – age – (stress the a)
• el pudor (pu-dor) – embarrassment – (stress the o)
Rule #4:
Add tildes when the word’s stress doesn’t follow Rule #2 or #3, meaning the stress doesn’t lie where it does normally:
• el corazón (cor-a-zón) – heart – (Rule #2 would say stress the a, but instead you stress the second o, which is why there’s a written accent there)
• los jóvenes (jó-ven-es) – young people – (Rule #2 would say stress the e, but instead you stress the o, which is why there’s a written accent there)
• las águilas (ág-uil-as) – eagles – (Rule #3 would say stress the u, but instead you stress the first a, which is why there’s a written accent there)
• fácil (fá-cil) – easy – (Rule #3 would say stress the i, but you you stress the a, which is why there’s a written accent there)
Questions
Tildes are also used in Spanish with direct or indirect question words:
Homonyms
Lastly, what about homonyms in Spanish? Spanish also utilizes tildes to distinguish between homonyms, words with the same pronunciation but that have different meanings. For example:
The above vocabulary will likely take some practice… but eventually it’ll become like second nature!
To recap…
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Post Author: Jason N.Jason N. tutors English and Spanish in Athens, GA. He majored in Spanish at UC Davis, lived in Mexico for 3 years where he completed a Master’s degree in Counseling, and studied Spanish Literature and Psychology at the University of Costa Rica. He is currently a PhD graduate assistant at the University of Georgia. Learn more about Jason here!
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