Stress and Accentuation

Natural stress

One of the reasons for using an accent mark is to stress a syllable that would not naturally be stressed. The natural stress of a word follows two simple rules. Understanding the following two rules about the natural stress of a word is imperative for pronouncing words and understanding why written accent marks are sometimes necessary:

• If a word ends in any consonant other than n or s, the natural stress will be on the last syllable.

• If a word ends in a vowel or the letter n or s, the natural stress is on the next to the last syllable.

Written accents

The main purpose of writing an accent mark is to indicate that this particular word is supposed to be stressed somewhere other than the syllable where it would be stressed naturally if it followed the rules. This leads to some rules within the rules. For example, there are hundreds of words that are cognates of English words that end in - tion like nation, liberation, or condition. These words end in - ción in Spanish: nación, liberación, or condición. The rule states that a word that ends in an n has the natural stress on the next to the last syllable, and these words are supposed to be stressed on the next to the last syllable like in English. But, because they do not follow the general rule, an accent mark is written on the last vowel, the o, to show where the stress should be pronounced.

Don't forget that a diphthong is where one strong and one weak vowel or two weak vowels are used together creates one syllable. That is why there is no accent on the word iglesia: the i is acting like the consonant y, so the diphthong ia creates a single syllable ya sound at the end of the word and the natural stress is on the next to the last syllable since the word ends in a vowel.

One reason an accent mark is used is to indicate that the softer vowel is to be pronounced as well as the stronger vowel. This obviously creates two separate syllables and the stress will be on the accented syllable.

Understanding these rules not only helps you know whether or not to write an accent when spelling a word that you hear, it will also help you pronounce a word that you are reading with the stress on the correct syllable. It is helpful when you learn a word with an accent mark to say it out loud and clap on the syllable with the accent mark. This will not only remind you to stress the word on that syllable, but will also help you remember that the word has an accent mark.

Another reason for writing an accent mark has nothing to do with pronunciation. It is used for differentiation between two words that would otherwise be spelled the same. For example, the word si means if, but the word sí means yes. Of course, when spoken, only the context of the sentence will provide a clue as to which of the two words is appropriate.

The Spanish accent mark is always written the same way. If you drew a box around the accent mark, the accent should go from the bottom left corner to the upper right corner of the box.