Accent Rules for Spanish

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For everyone that is learning or speaks Spanish, accents have always been a pain in the ass. Thankfully, there are rules for when you should add the tilde1 and when you shouldn't... unlike French whose three different types appear haphazardly. If you learn this rules, accents should never again be a problem if you can divide words in syllables.

Syllables and Accents


Words are divided in syllables2. When there are more than one syllables, one syllable is accentuated3. That syllable is called the silaba tonica and the ones that aren't are silabas atonicas. If you don't see a tilde and the syllable is accentuated the accent is called acento voz4, while one with the tilde is called accento ortografico5.

The Four Types of Accents

Prosódico6:More intensity on the syllable, no tilde.Gráfico7: More intensity on the syllable, tildeDiacrítico8:No changes in pronounciation, makes writing easier9Enfático10:Emphatizes the sound, used in questions.

When to use the prosodic or graphic accent


The first thing you need to know are the types of words there are, based on the syllable that is accented. There are four types, aguda, grave, esdrujula, and sobreesdrujula.

AnteantepenultimateAntePenultimatePenultimateLast 
   AccentuatedAguda
  Accentuated Grave
 Accentuated  Esdrujula
Accentuated   Sobreesdrujula

Now you know the types and why they are that. The next question is: When do we write the tilde?

If the word is a sobreesdrujula or an esdrujula, the tilde is written11. Always.

If the word finishes with n, s, or a vowel, a word that is aguda gets a tilde. It is the other way around for the grave: if it does not end in n, s, or a vowel, it gets a tilde.

Emphatic Accent

This is one of the easiest accents to use. It is placed on words that are questions to make a difference between them and what would otherwise be a homograph.

Examples:

¿Cómo? ¿Cuándo?.

¿Qué quieres que te haga de comer?

Diacritic Accent

The last and the hardest one of all12! It is used to differentiate two monosyllabic words that are spelled the same. The word that is a member of the gramatical category that is most important gets the tilde The list of gramatical categories in order of importance are: verb, noun, pronoun, adverb, adjective, article, conjuction, preposition, and interjection.

There are also some bysillabic words that have this accent. Some examples are the words sólo and solo. Another is aún and aun.

Conclusion

I hope that this helps anyone who is learning Spanish and is having trouble with this. I suppose that people who know Spanish from since they are little13 will have learned this rules at school.

1A thing that looks like this: ´ and tells you that the syllable it is over is accentuated2I know this is obvious...3Pronounced louder4Voiced accent.5Spelling accent.6Prosodic.7Graphic.8Diacritic.9A lie, of course, spread by the Real Academia Española de la Lengua10Emphatic11On the accentuated syllable, of course12Unless you have a good memory13if they are from a Spanish speaking country...

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