Apuntes…Apuntes… La Acentuación La Acentuación

Accents

To know when a word needs an accent, you need to know...

A) That some words always need an accent:

1. Question words

¿Qué? ¿Cómo? ¿Cuándo? ¿Dónde? ¿Quién? ¿Por qué?

2. Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings need accents

• Tú = you Tu = your

• Mí = me Mi = my

• Té = tea Te = yourself…

3. Words that end in –ando or –iendo when one or two pronoun(s) are attached need an accent on the ándo or the iéndo

• Está cantándote una canción.

• Está cantándotela por tu cumpleaños .

4. Words that end in –AR, –ER or –IR when two pronouns are attached need an accent on the ár, ér, or ír.

• Necesita llevarlos a la escuela.

• Va a llevárselos a su casa.

• Necesita leérmelos esta noche.

1 pronoun= NO accent!

5. Words that end in –ción or –sión need an accent on the ó• la canción• mansión• conclusión NO accent if plural! canciones, mansiones

6. Regular verbs conjugated in the preterit need an accent in the YO and Él forms

• yo hablé tú hablaste él habló

• yo comí tú comiste él comió

7. Regular AR verbs conjugated in the imperfect need an accent in the nosotros and ER/IR verbs need an accent on the í in all forms of the imperfect

• ábamos ía, ías, ía, íamos, ían

You also need to know...

B) How to separate words into syllables:

1.Divide syllables so the syllables always start with a consonant.

2.If a word starts with a vowel, separate the vowel and start the next syllable with a consonant.

Divide these words into syllables:

1. silla

2. mañana

3. enemigo

4. amarillo

5. comedor

si-lla

ma-ña-na

e-ne-mi-go

a-ma-ri-llo

co-me-dor

3. *Keep a strong vowel (A, E, O) and a weak vowel (I, U) together, *separate 2 consonants that are not ll, rr, or ch and *separate 2 strong vowels 1. fuerte 2. almuerzo 3. accidente 4. veo 5. paseo 6. farmacia

fuer-teal-muer-zoac-ci-den-teve-opa-se-ofar-ma-cia

4. Separate a strong vowel (A, E, O) and a weak vowel (I, U) when you want to separate their sounds. A weak vowel with an accent becomes a strong vowel!

1. María

2. Fotografía

3. Continúa

Ma-rí-a

fo-to-gra-fí-a

con-ti-nú-a

Finally, you need to know...

C) That you must memorize 3 rules of pronunciation:

1.Words that end in n, s, or a vowel are naturally stressed on the second to the last syllable.

1. alemanes

2. lunes

3. lecciones

4. examen

5. joven

a-le-ma-nes

e-xa-men

jo-ven

lu-nes

lec-cio-nes

These words are pronounced according to the rule for words ending in a vowel, N or S. The underlined syllable shows the natural stress.

When the rule and the natural stress are the same,NO accent is needed!

2. Words that end in a consonant except n or s are naturally stressed on the last syllable

1. explicar

2. federal

3. navidad

4. pared

5. español

ex-pli-car

fe-de-ral

na-vi-dad

pa-red

es-pa-ñol

These words are pronounced according to the rule for words ending in a consonant except N or S. The underlined syllable shows the natural stress.

When the rule and the natural stress are the same,NO accent is needed!

3.Words that don’t follow these rules need a written accent.

4. tambien 6. platano

5. natacion 7. increible

6. dias 8. pais

7. Barbara 9. mirandola

8. boligrafo 10.darmelo

3.The rule for the natural stress and the real pronunciation don’t match, so you need a written accent to show the correct pronunciation.

4. tam-bién 6. plá-ta-no

5. na-ta-ción 7. in-cre-í-ble

6. dí-as 8. pa-ís

7. Bár-ba-ra 9. mi-rán-do-la

8. bo-lí-gra-fo 10.dár-me-lo

4. Divide into syllables and add an accent IF it is needed:

1. numero 6. cupon

2. pasaporte 7. quizas

3. funcion 8. ruido

4. tecnologia 9. miercoles

5. basquetbol 10. nariz

4. You only need a written accent when the natural stress (according to the rules) and the correct pronunciation don’t match.

1. nú-me-ro 6. cu-pón

2. pa-sa-por-te 7. qui-zás

3. fun-ción 8. rui-do

4. tec-no-lo-gí-a 9. miér-co-les

5. bás-quet-bol 10. na-riz