Language/Spanish/Pronunciation/Accents

How to use the accents in Spanish?

Written accents in Spanish, á, é, í, ó, ú are very useful to know where to put the stressed syllable of the word.

Each word in Spanish includes a syllable which is more accentuated than the other: it is sometimes marked by a written accent.

Rules

The rules for where to put the accent and why to put it there may be difficult for non Spanish native speakers at the beginning.

• If the word ends in an s or n or one of five vowels (a, e, i, o, u), stress is marked on the penultimate syllable. It does not need a written accent to mark the intonation. The majority of Spanish words fall into this category.

Examples: me-sa, za-pa-tos, pa-dre

• All other words that do not end in an s, n or a vowel and do not include written accent then carry the accent on the last syllable. They do not need a written accent.

Examples: Co-mer, pa-pel, or-de-na-dor

• If the accent is marked on another syllable (for words not following the two previous rules), we then use a written accent to indicate the stressed syllable.

Examples: di-fí-cil, ár-bol (both words end with an l and should be part of the second category. As this is not the case, we must then place a written accent on the stressed syllable).

• It is the same when the accent falls on the penultimate syllable or the last such as with compound words.

Examples: dí-me-lo (imperative and two pronouns), du-chán-do-se (gerund and reflexive pronoun), los fan-tás-tic-co.

• There are exceptions to these rules for foreign words used in the Spanish language.

• There are other specific cases in the use of written accents in Spanish.

• The letter ñ is a letter of the Spanish alphabet but is sometimes seen as an accent. It changes the sound of the n as in español.

How to write the Spanish accents on your keyboard?

Spanish accents are an important aspect of spelling words: So be sure to write them.

Here is the list of shortcuts to use a keyboard that is not Spanish.

To do this, hold down the Alt key and type the number listed:

Character	Shortcut	Character	Shortcut
Á	Alt + 0193	á	Alt + 0225
É	Alt + 0201	é	Alt + 0233
Í	Alt + 0205	í	Alt + 0237
Ó	Alt + 0211	ó	Alt + 0243
Ú	Alt + 0218	ú	Alt + 0250
Ñ	Alt + 0209	ñ	Alt + 0241

Most monosyllabic words like pan and sal do not have an accent.