B1 · Fine points and style
Written accents: the tricky cases
When words grow, vowels collide and short words have a twin.
At a glance
- Remember
- The stress stays, the mark adapts — and short words carry it only when they have a twin.
- Form
- joven → jóvenes, examen → exámenesplural gains an accent
- Signal words
- á
- é
- í
- ó
- ú
- ñ
- Trap
- Wrong:Ayer mi jefe hablo conmigo.Right:Ayer mi jefe habló conmigo.
Your turn
5 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
Now write it yourself4 sentences on this topic, typed and checked instantly.
The form
The forms and what they mean
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Spanish.
| plural gains an accent | joven → jóvenes, examen → exámenes |
| plural loses an accent | alemán → alemanes, canción → canciones |
| attached pronouns | da → dámelo, explica → explícamelo |
| stressed i or u next to a vowel | día, país, Raúl, reír |
| one syllable, no accent | fue, dio, vio, ti, pie |
| one syllable with a twin | él/el, tú/tu, mí/mi, sí/si, sé/se, más/mas |
| -mente keeps the accent | rápidamente, fácilmente |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
When a word grows, the accent may come or go — the stress stays.
Los jóvenes alemanes hablan inglés.The young Germans speak English.
A stressed i or u next to another vowel takes an accent.
Mi país tiene muchos ríos.My country has a lot of rivers.
One-syllable words take an accent only to tell two words apart.
Esto es para ti, no para mí.This is for you, not for me.
Adverbs in -mente keep the accent of the adjective.
Lo resolvió rápidamente.He solved it quickly.
Example sentences
El teléfono está en la habitación.The telephone is in the bedroom.
Sé que tú lo sabes.I know that you know.
Aún no sé si vendrá.I still do not know whether he is coming.
Los jóvenes hablan muy rápido.Young people speak very fast.
6 more example sentences
Mañana hablaré con él.Tomorrow I will speak to him.
¿Cómo se llama tu país?What is your country called?
La música está demasiado alta.The music is too loud.
Tú sabes más que yo.You know more than I do.
Todavía está en el jardín.He is still in the garden.
Compré el periódico en la estación.I bought the paper at the station.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The accent is taken for decoration and dropped, since English never writes one. It is spelling: hablois «I speak»hablóis «he spoke» One mark carries both the person and the tense, and the same pair exists for every regular verb in the language.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
The two basic rules and the accent mark are in the topic on stress: wherever a word departs from the rule, the stress is written. This page is about the places where even advanced learners stumble — because a word changes shape or because two vowels meet.
When a word grows, the accent can appear or disappear although the stress stays put: joven becomes jóvenes, alemán becomes alemanes, da becomes dámelo. When a stressed i or u meets another vowel, the accent splits them into two syllables: día, país, Raúl — and so tells hacia («towards») from hacía («he was doing»).
One-syllable words take no accent — fue, dio, vio, ti, pie — except to tell two identical spellings apart: él/el, tú/tu, mí/mi, sí/si, sé/se, té/te, dé/de, más/mas. And adverbs in -mente keep the accent of their adjective: rápido, rápidamente.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: hablar · ser · estar · tener · venir · saber · resolver