Summary:
This is an overview of the Spanish accentuation rules, diphthongs and also an introduction to the verbs ser and estar.
Syllables
All words in the Spanish language can be separated in syllables that normally follow the pattern CV (Consonant-Vowel).
Examples:
- casa → ca-sa
- cabeza → ca-be-za
Other syllable patterns present in Spanish are:
CCV → presidente → pre-si-den-te
CVC → pendiente → pen-dien-te
CCVC → prenda → pren-da
CVVC → diente → dien-te
VC → invierno → in-viern-no
Accentuation
Every word has one syllable that is stressed i.e. accentuated. The words can be divided into three categories depending on which syllable is stressed:
- Agudas: words that are accentuated in the final syllable: e.g. FELIZ → FE-LIZ
- Graves or llanas: words that are accentuated in the second to last syllable: e.g. CASA → CA-SA
- Esdrújulas: words that are accentuated in the third to last syllable: e.g. PÁJARO → PÁ-JA-RO
Statistically, the vast majority of the Spanish vocabulary consist of words that are grave, followed by agudas and lastly by esdrújulas.
The stress of a syllable is sometimes written by means of the acute diacritic sign “´”. The rules for the use of the diacritic sign are the following:
In the case of agudas words it is written when the word ENDS in N, S or a vowel.
Examples: cajón, anís, café
By graves words it is written when the word DOES NOT END in N, S or a vowel.
Examples: árbol, azúcar, ángel
By esdrújulas the diacritic sign is ALWAYS
Examples: ídolo, órdenes, célebre
The reason for this rule is that most of grave words end with N, S or a vowel, while agudas don’t. As a result, the Spanish orthography tries to avoid the writing of the diacritic sign in most of its words.
The best method to get used to this system is to look at the end of the word and first see if the word ends with an N, S or a vowel.
If it does and does have a “´”, then it is aguda.
If it does and does not have a “´”, then it is grave.
If it does not and has a “´”, then it is grave.
If it does not and does not have a “´”, then it is aguda.
This can be summarized in the following table.
| Ends in N, S or vowel | Has “´” | Does not have “´” |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | aguda | grave |
| No | grave | aguda |
Monosyllabic words
Monosyllabic words do not get the orthographic accentuation normally. The exception are cases where it is used to distinguish monosyllabic homophones. Here are some examples:
- él [he] ↔ el [the]
- tú [you] ↔ tu [your]
- dé [give] ↔ de [of]
Diphthongs
Diphthongs are vowels that are pronounced together in a same syllable. In Spanish phonology they depend on the type of vowels they have as their components. There are two basic types of vowels:
- Open vowels: A, E, O
- Closed vowels: I, U
Diphthongs can be only formed in these three types of cases:
- An open vowel with a closed vowel (decreasing diphthong): e.g. auto, paisaje, peine
- A closed vowel with an open vowel (rising diphthong): e.g. fuego, tierra, comedia
- Two closed vowels: e.g. ciudad, cuidar
Exception: in the adverb muy, “uy” counts as a diphthong.
Hiatus
It is the opposite phenomenon to a diphthong. It means that two vowels that are together are not pronounced as in the same syllable. This occurs mainly when two open vowels come together.
Examples:
- caer → ca-er
- teatro → te-a-tro
- mareo → ma-re-o
Hiatuses can also occur in diphthongs where one of the closed vowels is stressed. In this way a diphthong becomes “broken” and the stressed vowel gets an acute diacritic sign.
Examples:
- río → rí-o
- país → pa-ís
- oído → o-í-do
IMPORTANT: as you see the words with broken diphthongs are an exception to the N, S or vowel rule. Words like río (river) are both grave and end in vowel. However, if one were not to write the diacritic sign, it could be interpreted as the monosyllabic word rio with the stress on the “o” which means “[he/she] laughed”.
Pronouns
As almost any modern indoeuropean language, Spanish distinguishes 6 types of pronouns, 3 singular and 3 plural, and 2 types of polite forms, 1 singular and 1 plural.
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | yo | nostros / nosotras*** |
| 2nd | tú / vos* | vosotros /vosotras*** / ustedes** / Ustedes** |
| 3rd | él / ella / Usted | ellos / ellas*** |
* The vos form, derived from the old Spanish polite form and also Latin 2nd plural form, is used in some regions throughout Latin America, most notable in the Río de la Plata region (Argentina and Uruguay).
** The ustedes form is also derived from the polite form Ustedes, which is a contraction from Vuestras Mercedes. In Latin America it is used instead of the vosotros form. It is important to note that the conjugation between vosotros and ustedes is different. The latter is the same one as in ellos / ellas.
*** The plural forms nosotros, vosotros and ellos distinguishes also feminine forms such as nosotras, vosotras and ellas respectively. This is not the case on ustedes or Ustedes, which is both masculine and feminine. For the sake of simplicity, they will now be referred as nosotros/-as, vosotros/-as and so forth.
Verbs ser and estar (to be)
Spanish distinguishes two forms of the verb “to be”, namely ser and estar. As with almost any other language, their conjugation is irregular.
Ser
| Person | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | soy |
| tú | eres |
| él / ella / Usted | es |
| nosotros/-as | somos |
| vosotros/-as / ustedes | sois / son |
| ellos/-as | son |
Estar
| Person | Conjugation |
|---|---|
| yo | estoy |
| tú | estás |
| él / ella / Usted | está |
| nosotros/-as | estamos |
| vosotros/-as / ustedes | estáis / estan |
| ellos/-as | están |
The difference in the use of the verbs ser and estar will be discussed in detail next class.
Slides
Exercises to practice the accentuation in Spanish:
http://www.profedeele.es/2013/06/actividad-de-acentos-o-tildes.html