Los Acentos Escritos

[Christina]

Hi, I'm a beginner en español!

I need help stressing the syllable. Can you explain this to me? Which syllable is stressed?

1. sim - ple - men - te

2. di - ne - ral

3. la - gri - ma

4. par - ti - ci - pa -cion

5. pre - li - mi- nar

6. beis - bol

7. ci - vi - li - za - cio - nes

8. va - li - dar

9. mar - tir

10. vic - ti - ma

[Perikles]

Spanish is much easier to pronounce than English, because Spanish tells you which syllable to stress with the stress accent.

If the word has NO accent, then the stress is the default:

On the next to last syllable if the word ends with a vowel, n or s
The last syllable if the word ends with a consonant other than n or s

So:
1. sim - ple - men - te

2. di - ne - ral

You need to learn words with the accent built in. Number 3 in your list should be lágrima, not lagrima. so it is pronounce lá.gri.ma. Go through the list and try my above rule with them all.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

If this is your homework, we cannot do it for you. But you can check the rules for writing accents in Spanish here or here and try inserting them.

[Christina]

No, I am very happy it is not homework lol. I'm just learning how to say it. And Thank you so so much for helping me understand it. It now makes more sense.

You both are really wonderful to help me. Thank you very much! I am very appreciative.

[caliber1]

Just some advice from someone who is still learning a lot, if you have someone who you can practice your spanish with verbally, pronounce words to them as best you can and ask them to say the words back. I remember feeling a little silly at first, but it does help and soon you will say the words correctly without even thinking about it. And then you'll feel like this guy - - - - >

[Christina]

LOL I know right! My friends speak it, but trilling the "rr" seems funny to me.
Even when saying "regular," they say rre-gu-lar. It sounds much fancier in Spanish than in English. I just wish I could say it lol.

[GuapaErika]

Here's a poem to help you remember:

If a word ends in a VOWEL, N or S,
the second to last syllable gets the stress
For everything else, we stress the END
And where a word breaks a rule, ACCENT!

(Yes, I know that 'end' and 'accent' don't really rhyme, but they're close!!)

[AikenRooster]

Actually, if you think about it, it makes sense. Look at a verb conjugation chart: All of the verb conjugations(except the 2nd person plural of the imperative, which you will rarely, if ever, use) ALL END IN A VOWEL, N, OR S. ONLY the infinitive ends in an R, therefore, only the infinitive will be pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, and I am sure there is a reason for all of this, but it is VERY COOL once you realize it.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by AikenRooster

ONLY the infinitive ends in an R, therefore, only the infinitive will be pronounced with the accent on the last syllable, and I am sure there is a reason for all of this, but it is VERY COOL once you realize it.

It might be very cool, but it's very wrong too. I'm assuming you are referring only to the present tenses, but even then, have a look at estar.

[AikenRooster]

Originally Posted by Perikles

It might be very cool, but it's very wrong too. I'm assuming you are referring only to the present tenses, but even then, have a look at estar.

I meant to add, "UNLESS THERE IS AN ACCENT MARK," of course, but this had already been stated.

[Ronald Ross]

Perikles says:

"On the next to last syllable if the word ends with a vowel, n or s
The last syllable if the word ends with a consonant other than n or s"

This is really quite false. It is rather difficult to find a word that ends in n and is stressed on the next to the last syllable. Here are a few examples of the way that words ending in n REALLY behave. They behave just like other regular nouns ending in any other consonant. They are stressed on the LAST syllable and therefore should not be accented at all.

Adán, ademán, afán, alacrán, alemán, alquitrán, azafrán, balandrán, caimán, capellán, capitán, catalán, charlatán, desmán, faisán, gabán, galán, gavilán, guardián, haragán, holgazán, huracán, imán, mazapán, musulmán, orangután, patán, ramadán, rufián, sacristán, sultán, tafetán, talismán, almacén, amén, andén, Belén, palafrén, parabién, recién, rehén, sartén, sostén, también, vaivén, terraplén, adoquín. afín, bailarín, botiquín, calcetín, carmín, cojín, confín, chapín, delfín, hollín, rocín, Sanedrín, trajín, trampolín, abejón, aguijón, arpón, bastón, balcón, calzón, camarón, canción, corazón, riñón, razón, sermón, soplón, tapón, trombón, acordeón, sifón, talón, tapón, ramplón, salmón, desesperación (y miles y miles terminadas en -ción), atún, algún, betún, común, según, etc.

The only words that end in n and are stressed on the next to the last syllable are a handful of Latinisms that are not patrimonial Spanish words at all. Here are almost all of them:

certamen, cardumen, dictamen, examen, gravamen, vejamen, maderamen, velamen, crimen, himen, limen, cacumen, cerumen, numen, resumen, germen, volumen, canon, colon y alguna otra. These are the real exceptions to the rule.

That n and s are somehow exceptional is a myth. And phonologically speaking, it would be unfathomable for two consonants that have nothing in common with each other to form part of the same context as vowels in some phonological stress rule.

The real rule is: words that end in consonants are stressed on the last syllable, words that end in vowels are stressed on the next to the last syllable. The words that do not follow this rule should be accented.

But of course, all of this doesn't help anyone to understand when to put a written accent mark on a word because the myth lives on.

[GuapaErika]

When talking about words that end in n or s, I think we're mainly talking about conjugated verbs. Think about verbs that are conjugated in the 1st and 3rd person (plural) - they are going to end in n or s and they follow the 'stress the second-to-last syllable' rule.

ha - BLA - mos

BAI - lan

par - ti - ci - PA - mos

And what about those "-ción" words when they are made plural? There is a reason why we can drop the accent and the second-to-last syllable is still stressed - because it ends in an "s".

va - ca - ci - O - nes

can - ci - O - nes

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Perikles statement is right.

The official rules say:

Palabras agudas: words that are stressed at the last syllable.
Palabras graves: words that are stressed at the second syllable, counting from the last one.
Palabras esdrújulas: words that are stressed at the third syllable, counting from the end of the word.


Written accent on palabras agudas: They end with n, s, or a vowel.
-> nación, compás, hindú...

Palabras agudas without a written accent: they end with any consonant, except n or s.
-> calor, formal, cabaret...

Palabras graves with a written accent: they end with any consonant, except n or s.
-> árbol, nácar, álbum...

Palabras graves without a written accent: they end with n, s, or a vowel.
-> examen, acentos, casa...

Palabras esdrújulas: They all bear a written accent.
-> brújula, atmósfera, pánico...



@Erika: What you wrote is correct.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by Ronald Ross

Perikles says:

"On the next to last syllable if the word ends with a vowel, n or s
The last syllable if the word ends with a consonant other than n or s"

This is really quite false. It is rather difficult to find a word that ends in n and is stressed on the next to the last syllable. .

This is a really good example of how quoting out of context can be quite wrong. The whole of what I said was:

Originally Posted by Perikles

If the word has NO accent, then the stress is the default:

On the next to last syllable if the word ends with a vowel, n or s
The last syllable if the word ends with a consonant other than n or s

In other words, I was not commenting on the frequency of words ending in n and where they were stressed. I was saying that if you see a written word without an accent, this is how you pronounced it.