Written Accents for Spanish

Written Accents

By KAREN LEAL

The diacritical accent is simply a written accent over a letter, also known in Spanish as a tilde, that changes its pronunciation.

In Spanish, this is used when:

1)- a word's ​tonic syllable does not fall where a grammar rule says it should (á, é, í, ó, ú)

2)- over the n as a ~ "mustache" symbol​

3)- to differentiate between homophones: words that sound or are spelled the same but have different meanings. Ex: el (the)/ él (he), tu (your)/ tú (you)​

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The Diacritic

More on HOMONYMS later...

The Tonic Syllable

​Every word has a tonic syllable, or syllable that is pronounced the strongest/loudest. Ex: hom/bre (hom is the tonic syllable), mu/jer (jer is the tonic syllable)

All other syllables in a word are called atonic syllables; these do not carry the strength/emphasis. ​Ex: hom/bre (bre is the atonic syllable), mu/jer (mu is the atonic syllable)

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**IF A WORD HAS A WRITTEN ACCENT MARK, THE SYLLABLE IT IS IN IS THE TONIC SYLLABLE**

Tonic Syllable/Pronounciation Rules

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​Rule #1

If a word ends in a consonant (b,c,d, etc...), except N or S, the last syllable will be the tonic syllable that carries the strength.

Ex: es-tu-diar co-rrer es-cri-bir

​ bai-lar lim-piar per-ci-bir​

​All of your infinitive verbs ending in -ar, -er, & -ir follow this rule.

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: cor-tar

• cor

• tar

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: re-co-ger

• re

• co

• ger

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: sa-lir

• sa

• lir

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: es-pa-ñol

• es

• pa

• ñol

Tonic Syllable Rules (continued)

​Rule #2:

If a word ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), N or S, then the tonic syllable is the second to last syllable.

Ex: fui-mos​ fa-vo-ri-to pe-rro ga-to​

i-re-mos​ fal-da tra-je bue-na

pa-la-bra​ pa-cien-te vein-te ca-tor-ce

Knowing the tonic syllable rules helps you read and pronounce correctly.

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: es-cue-la

• es

• cue

• la

• none of the above

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: o-so

• o

• so

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: ca-sa

• ca

• sa

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: po-de-mos

• po

• de

• mos

The Written Accent Rules...

Rule #1

When the pronounciation of a word does not follow tonic syllable rules #1 or #2, a written accent, aka: diacritic or tilde, is added to let us know what vowel carries the strength.

Ex. ár-bol, (break rule #1)

Ex. le-ón, mur-cié-la-go, cai-mán, pan-ta-lón, can-ción or any word ending in -ción (break rule #2)

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: miér/co/les

• miér

• co

• les

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: in-gles

• ín

• glés

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: por-tu-gues

• pór

• tú

• gués

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: ins-pi-ra-cion

• íns

• pí

• rá

• ción

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: au-to-mo-vil

• aú

• tó

• mó

• víl

The Written Accent Rules... (continued)​

Rule #2

To show that a weak vowel ​(i or u) carries the phonetic (sound) strength in a word, an accent must be added.

Ex: Even though tec-no-lo-gí-a follows tonic syllable rule #2, the i carries the strength and so an accent must be added to show it is no longer a weak vowel. This helps us recognize the tonic syllable.

More examples: grú-a, ba-hí-a, co-mí-a, etc...

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: li-bre-ri-a

• lí

• bré

• rí

• á

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: ti-a

• tí

• á

Poll

Choose the tonic syllable: pu-as

• pú

• ás