Diacritical accents in Spanish

The diacritical accent is the spelling sign (also called diacritical tilde) that is used to indicate in which syllable the blow of voice falls. In Spanish, the diacritical accent is characterized by differentiating meanings between words that are spelled the same but they are pronounced differently. For example, it is not the same: I finish - I finish - I finish. For this reason it is essential to know what are the diacritical accents in Spanish, as well as what are the rules of accentuation. Learn the stress rules from a TEACHER!

Depending on the pronunciation and the syllable in which the blow of voice falls, the words are divided into four groups:

• Sharp: the phonetic accent falls on the last syllable of the word, which is accentuated when it ends in a vowel, "-n" or "-s": mom, I walk or Never.
• Plain: the blow of the voice falls on the penultimate syllable of the words, which are accentuated when they end neither in vowel, nor in "-n" nor in "-s": angel football but home or Dinner.
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• Esdrújulas: the phonic accent is on the third to last syllable: banana, spirit, bat.
• Sobreesdrújulas: the phonic accent falls on any of the syllables before the penultimate: very quickly.

The words esdrújulas and sobreesdrújulas are always stressed.

In this video of a PROFESSOR we help you know detect the words sobreesdrújulas.

Next, we show you the complete list of words that differentiate meanings based on diacritical accent:

1. Monosyllables:

• "El-He": the first one is the masculine singular determining article ("the car") and the second one is the third person singular personal pronoun ("He is handsome).
• "De-Dé": the first word is a preposition ("at night") while the second corresponds to a verb form of the verb "dar" ("Maybe cheese gives me an allergy").
• "More-More": the first is an adversative conjunction ("He didn't want to go, but he made an effort for me") and the second is an adverb of quantity ("Do you want more cake?).
• "Mi-Mí": the first is a possessive determiner ("my house") while the second is a personal pronoun ("The gift is for me").
• "Se-Sé": the first is a reflexive pronoun ("I gave it to my mother") while the second corresponds to the first person singular of the present tense of the verb "to know" ("I don't know").
• "Si-Sí": the first is a conditional conjunction ("If you come, I invite you to a coffee") and the second is an affirmative adverb ("Yes, I want to").
• "Te-Té": the first is a personal pronoun ("I miss you") and the second is a type of infusion ("I like red tea").
• "Tu-Tú": the first is a possessive determiner ("Your car") while the second is a personal pronoun ("You don't have to say anything").

2. Polysyllables

• "Aun-Yet": the first is a conjunction ("Even if you insist, I'm not going with you") while the second is an adverb that can be replaced by "yet" ("We haven't eaten yet").

3. Demonstrative, interrogative and exclamatory pronouns

• Demonstrative: In contrast to the demonstrative determiners that do not have an accent, the demonstrative pronouns do, although now it is not strictly Mandatory, such as: "This / a-this / a", "That / a-That / a", "That / the-That / the", "These / as-These / as", "Those / as -Those ", "Those / as-Those / as".
• Interrogatives and exclamations: In front of the relative pronouns, the interrogative and exclamatory pronouns are always accentuated to be able to differentiate them from the previous ones: "What-What" ("Good!"), "Who-Who" ("Who is your brother?"), "When-When" (When is the concert? ")," How-How " ("How did you get arrive so fast? ")," Where-Where "(" Where do you live? ")," How-How long "(How long without seeing each other!"), "Why-Why" ("Why don't you you say the truth?").