Público, publico, publicó: the importance of the accent.
he accent mark, la tilde, is an orthographic symbol placed in certain cases over vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú) to indicate the stressed syllable of a word, which is pronounced with more intensity or emphasis. In Spanish, the position of the stressed syllable determines whether a word is "aguda," "llana," or "esdrújula," which in turn affects how the word is accented when spoken. Some words have their stressed syllable marked by an accent. This means that if you see a word with an accent mark, the stressed syllable will be the one that carries it. However, there are words without an accent that, like all multisyllabic words in Spanish, have a stressed syllable. There are also monosyllabic words that have an accent mark. Why? In this article, we will review the rules of accentuation in Spanish, that is, when we should place an accent mark and when we shouldn't, and we will discuss the concept of the diacritical accent, which is an accent placed to distinguish between words that are spelled the same but have different functions and/or meanings.
In Spanish, depending on their stressed syllable, words are divided into three basic groups. “Agudas”, which are stressed on the last syllable, “llanas” or “graves”, which are stressed on the second-to-last syllable, and “esdrújulas”, which are stressed on the third-to-last syllable. These last ones always carry an accent mark. Later in this article, we will see examples of all three groups and the accentuation rules, but first, I want to make a small clarification. In Spanish, there are direct and indirect object pronouns that, in certain cases, can be attached to a verb as suffixes, that is, at the end of the word, forming a longer word. When attached to an “esdrújula” word, a word from a fourth group is created: “sobreesdrújulas”. Let’s look at an example.
– ¡Devuélveme mi libro! (Return my book to me!)
“Devuélveme” is an “esdrújula” word because its syllables are de-vuél-ve-me. The stressed syllable is the third-to-last, and it has an accent mark. Now, if we replace “mi libro” with the direct object pronoun and use it as a suffix, we get:
– ¡Devuélvemelo! (Return it to me!)
This word is “sobreesdrújula”: it is divided as de-vuél-ve-me-lo, meaning the stressed syllable is the fourth-to-last. I just wanted to give you this example because this happens in real language use, and it doesn’t change anything regarding accentuation. In “devuélveme” and “devuélvemelo”, the stressed syllable is “vuél.”
Palabras agudas
These are words that are stressed on the last syllable, both prosodically and orthographically, meaning they carry an accent mark if they end in a vowel, “n”, or “s”. Examples with accents would be words like “canción” (song), “bebé” (baby), “después” (after). A typical example of an aguda without an accent mark is all verbs with more than one syllable in Spanish: they are all agudas. “Comer” (to eat), “amar” (to love), “vivir” (to live), “soñar” (to dream), “escribir” (to write). This is always true unless they have the reflexive pronoun “se” attached as a suffix.
“In some voseo varieties of the language, certain conjugations, such as the second-person singular of the present indicative or the informal singular imperative, become agudas. For example, ‘tú sabes’ becomes ‘vos sabés,’ or ‘¡tú, camina!’ becomes ‘¡vos, caminá!’”
Palabras llanas o graves.
These words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable, both prosodically and orthographically. They carry an accent mark if they do not end in a vowel, “n,” or “s,” which is the opposite of agudas. That’s why, for example, “publico” (I publish) is “llana” or “grave” while “publicó” (he/she published) is “aguda.” The first one ends in a vowel and has no accent mark, so the stressed syllable is the second-to-last. The second one ends in a vowel and has an accent mark, so the stressed syllable is the last, making it an aguda. “Árbol” (tree), “mármol” (marble), “césped” (grass), “líder” (leader) are examples of llanas that carry an accent. “Imagen” (image), “origen” (origin), “joven” (young), “margen” (margin) are examples of llanas without a written accent.
Reflexive verbs, on the other hand, when in the infinitive and with the reflexive pronoun “se” attached as a suffix, become llanas or graves without an accent. “Levantarse” (to get up), “bañarse” (to bathe), “lavarse” (to wash oneself), “dormirse” (to fall asleep). Without the suffix, they are all agudas.
La mayor parte de las palabras del idioma español, vale decirlo y además poner este corto ejemplo, son palabras llanas o graves. Algo así como el ochenta por ciento de las palabras, si no me equivoco. Excluyendo los monosílabos, que no cuentan como llanas ni como agudas. Los he tachado para que sea más fácil de comprobar.
Most of the words in the Spanish language, it is worth saying and also giving this short example, are either llanas or graves. Something like eighty percent of the words, if I am not mistaken. Excluding monosyllables, which do not count as llanas or agudas. I have crossed them out so that it is easier to check.
Palabras esdrújulas.
These are words stressed on the third-to-last syllable, like “público” (public). They always carry an accent mark. “Murciélago” (bat), “teléfono” (telephone), “tentáculo” (tentacle), “película” (movie) are some examples. They always carry an accent, and, as we saw earlier, there are “sobreesdrújulas”. “Devuélvemelo” (give it back to me), “quítamelo” (take it off of me), “llévatelo” (take it with you).
Sí, quiero. Si quiero.
Allow me to give an example in a foreign language. In German, one of the languages I’m learning, there is the verb umfahren, which can mean either to run something over or… to avoid something while driving. I bring this up because, logically, as a learner of the language, this is something I find challenging. In reality, these are two different verbs, since one is separable – something common in this language where some verbs have a separable prefix, something comparable to phrasal verbs in English – and the other isn’t, but the point is that in certain cases the distinction between running something over and avoiding it comes down to stress. If the stress is on “um“, it means running something over. If it’s on “fahr“, it means avoiding it. And yes, it’s hard to catch the difference between both pronunciations.
Why do I bring up this example? Because we’ve ventured into tricky territory. Prosody, or the “musicality” of language, is a topic for many more articles, and it’s not the purpose of this one to go deeper into that. However, we must touch on it to understand why the diacritical accent exists in Spanish. There are words that, depending on their meaning or function in the sentence, are pronounced as stressed or unstressed. Again, this is a topic that will require more articles, because, for instance, not in all cases is it possible to use the diacritical accent. But in spoken language, as linguistic competence advances, this difference becomes noticeable, and it helps us understand, along with the context, whether someone said “sí, quiero” (yes, I want) or “si quiero” (if I want). Next, we will see a short list of frequently used words in the language that, depending on their function or meaning, are either accented or not.
Tú / Tu
Tú (personal pronoun): Refers to the person being spoken to. Example: Tú siempre me ayudas con mis tareas. (You always help me with my homework).
Tu (possessive adjective): Indicates that something belongs to the person being addressed. Example: Olvidaste tu abrigo en la casa. (You forgot your coat at home).
Él / El
Él (personal pronoun): Refers to a male subject. Example: Él es mi mejor amigo. (He is my best friend).
El (definite article): Accompanies a singular masculine noun. Example: El perro de mi vecino es muy amistoso. (My neighbor’s dog is very friendly).
Mí / Mi
Mí (personal pronoun): Refers to the speaker. Example: Todo esto es para mí. (All of this is for me).
Mi (possessive adjective): Used to express possession. Example: Mi casa está cerca del parque. (My house is near the park).
Sé / Se
Sé (verb form of saber or ser): First person singular of the verb saber (to know) or imperative form of the verb ser (to be). Example 1: Yo sé la respuesta a esa pregunta. (I know the answer to that question). Example 2: Sé amable con los demás. (Be kind to others).
Se (personal pronoun): Used as a reflexive pronoun or to form passive reflexive sentences. Example: Se lavó las manos antes de comer. (He/She washed their hands before eating).
Dé / De
Dé (verb form of dar): Subjunctive or imperative form of the verb dar (to give). Example: Espero que me dé una segunda oportunidad. (I hope he/she gives me a second chance).
De (preposition): Indicates possession, origin, cause, etc. Example: El libro de Juan es muy interesante. (Juan’s book is very interesting).
Más / Mas
Más (adverb of quantity): Indicates a greater or additional amount. Example: Quiero más café, por favor. (I want more coffee, please).
Mas (adversative conjunction): Equivalent to “but”. Example: Quería ir a la fiesta, mas no tenía tiempo. (I wanted to go to the party, but I didn’t have time).
Aún / Aun
Aún (temporal adverb): Can be replaced by “todavía” (still). Example: Aún no he terminado el libro. (I still haven’t finished the book).
Aun (concessive adverb): Can be replaced by “incluso” (even). Example: Aun los más fuertes se cansan. (Even the strongest get tired).
Qué / Que
Qué (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun): Used to ask or exclaim. Example: ¿Qué quieres hacer esta tarde? (What do you want to do this afternoon?).
Que (conjunction): Connects sentences or introduces subordinate clauses. Example: Dijo que llegaría tarde. (He/She said they would arrive late).
Quién / Quien
Quién (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun): Used to ask or exclaim. Example: ¿Quién viene a la fiesta? (Who’s coming to the party?).
Quien (relative pronoun): Refers to a person mentioned earlier. Example: La persona quien me ayudó se llama Pedro. (The person who helped me is named Pedro).
Cómo / Como
Cómo (interrogative or exclamatory adverb): Used to ask or exclaim about the way something is done. Example: ¿Cómo llegaste aquí tan rápido? (How did you get here so fast?).
Como (adverb of manner or conjunction): Used to compare or describe the way something is done. Example: Cocina como su abuela le enseñó. (He/She cooks the way their grandmother taught them).
Cuándo / Cuando
Cuándo (interrogative or exclamatory adverb): Used to ask or exclaim about the time something happens. Example: ¿Cuándo empezará la película? (When will the movie start?).
Cuando (conjunction): Introduces temporal subordinate clauses. Example: Te llamaré cuando llegue a casa. (I’ll call you when I get home).
Dónde / Donde
Dónde (interrogative or exclamatory adverb): Used to ask or exclaim about a location. Example: ¿Dónde está la tienda de libros? (Where is the bookstore?).
Donde (relative adverb): Refers to a previously mentioned place. Example: La casa donde crecí está cerca del río. (The house where I grew up is near the river).
Cuánto / Cuanto
Cuánto (interrogative or exclamatory adverb): Asks or exclaims about quantity. Example: ¿Cuánto cuesta esta camisa? (How much does this shirt cost?).
Cuanto (relative pronoun or adverb of quantity): Expresses totality or a relative quantity. Example: Lleva cuanto pan puedas. (Take as much bread as you can).
Por qué / Porque / Porqué
Por qué (preposition + interrogative pronoun): Used to ask about the reason or cause of something. Example: ¿Por qué no viniste a la fiesta? (Why didn’t you come to the party?).
Porque (causal conjunction): Explains the reason or cause of something. Example: No fui porque estaba ocupado. (I didn’t go because I was busy).
Porqué (noun): Refers to the reason or cause. Example: No entiendo el porqué de su enojo. (I don’t understand the reason for his/her anger).
Solo / Sólo
Sólo (adverb): Means “only”, whereas solo without the accent means “alone”. Although the RAE no longer requires the accent, its use can clarify meaning in cases that might be ambiguous, like vine solo a comer, which could be understood as “I came alone to eat” or “I came only to eat and nothing else.” In the latter case, it’s recommended to write sólo to remove any doubt. Example: Sólo quiero descansar un rato. (I just want to rest for a while).
Solo (adjective): Refers to being without company. Example: Prefiero trabajar solo. (I prefer to work alone).
De dónde / De donde
De dónde (preposition + interrogative adverb): Used to ask about the origin or source of something or someone. Example: ¿De dónde viene esa música? (Where is that music coming from?).
De donde (preposition + relative adverb): Refers to a place previously mentioned. Example: Regresó al país de donde emigró hace años. (He/She returned to the country from where he/she emigrated years ago).
Adónde / Adonde
Adónde (interrogative or exclamatory adverb): Used to ask or exclaim about the destination or direction of a movement. Example: ¿Adónde vas tan deprisa? (Where are you going so fast?).
Adonde (relative adverb): Refers to a mentioned or known place, indicating where someone or something is going. Example: Fuimos adonde nos indicó el guía. (We went to where the guide directed us).
Leave a Reply