A1 · Alphabet and pronunciation
Stress and the written accent
Two rules for stress — and a mark where they do not apply.
Every Spanish word has one stressed syllable, and two rules say where it is. If the word ends in a vowel, in n or in s, the second to last syllable is stressed: casa(CA-sa)hablan(HA-blan)libros(LI-bros) If it ends in any other consonant, the last one is: hablar(ha-BLAR)ciudad(ciu-DAD)español(es-pa-ÑOL)
Where a word breaks these rules, a mark sits on the stressed vowel — the tilde: café(ca-FÉ)árbol(ÁR-bol)música(MÚ-si-ca)canción(can-CIÓN) It always slopes up to the right and says only where the stress falls; it never changes the sound of the vowel. English leaves stress unwritten — «a RECord», «to reCORD» — and lets the reader guess. Spanish writes it down whenever it cannot be worked out.
A few short words carry the mark to tell them apart from a word spelt the same way: tú (you) and tu (your), él (he) and el (the), sí (yes) and si (if). The question words carry it too: qué, dónde, cómo. The special cases come later, under the finishing touches.
The form
| ending in a vowel, n or s: second to last syllable | casa, hablan, libros |
| ending in another consonant: last syllable | hablar, ciudad, español |
| breaking the rule: with an accent mark | café, árbol, música, canción |
| tells two words apart | tú — tu, él — el, sí — si |
| question words | qué, dónde, cómo |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
Ending in a vowel, n or s: the second to last syllable is stressed.
Mis amigos viven aquí.My friends live here.
Ending in another consonant: the last syllable is stressed.
Quiero hablar español.I want to speak Spanish.
Where the stress falls elsewhere, an accent mark is written.
Tomo un café en la estación.I have a coffee at the station.
The mark can separate two words spelt the same way.
¿Tú tienes tu libro?Have you got your book?
How to spot it
- á
- é
- í
- ó
- ú
Example sentences
El teléfono está en la mesa.The telephone is on the table.
¿Dónde está la estación?Where is the station?
Me gusta la música.I like music.
Él es el médico.He is the doctor.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The accent looks like decoration and is easily left out. It is part of the spelling, though, and often tells two words apart: estameans «this»estámeans «is» Leave it out and you have written a different word — and you will read it aloud wrongly too, because without the mark the stress would fall on the first syllable.
The mark appears only where the rule does not work.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.