Accentuation Rules in Spanish

Accentuation is one of the most important parts of Spanish.

Accents affect not only the pronunciation of a word, but can also completely change its meaning. Mastering the rules of accentuation is essential for writing and speaking correctly.

In this article, you will learn what an accent is, how to identify words that carry a tilde, and how to avoid common mistakes.

Let’s go!

What is an accent?

The accent helps us identify the syllable on which we place more emphasis when pronouncing a word. Depending on how it is used, it can be:

• Orthographic accent: Is represented with a written accent or tilde (´) and indicates the stressed syllable in words that follow specific rules.
• Prosodic accent: Indicates the stressed syllable (the one pronounced with more intensity) but does not have a written tilde.

Knowing when to use the orthographic accent depends on the accentuation rules we will see later.

Examples of orthographic accent (with tilde):

• inglés → in-glés (English)
• lápiz → lá-piz (pencil)
• café → ca-fé (coffee)
• rápido → rá-pi-do (fast)
• azúcar → a-zú-car (sugar)

Examples of prosodic accent (without tilde):

• casa → ca-sa (house)
• sonido → so-ni-do (sound)
• bondad → bon-dad (goodness)
• perro → pe-rro (dog)
• cuaderno → cua-der-no (notebook)

Types of words according to accentuation

Spanish classifies words into four types based on the position of the stressed syllable. These categories determine whether they need a tilde or not.

Agudas words

Agudas words have the stressed syllable in the last syllable. These words carry a tilde if they end in "n," "s," or a vowel. If they end in any other consonant, they do not carry a tilde.

Examples with tilde:

• camión → ca-mión (truck)
• bebé → be-bé (baby)
• limón → li-món (lemon)
• París → Pa-rís (Paris)
• corazón → co-ra-zón (heart)

Examples without tilde:

• verdad → ver-dad (truth)
• feliz → fe-liz (happy)
• reloj → re-loj (watch)
• papel → pa-pel (paper)
• color → co-lor (color)

Graves or llanas words

Graves (or llanas) words have the stressed syllable in the penultimate syllable. These words carry a tilde if they do not end in "n," "s," or a vowel. In other words, if they end in any of those letters, they do not carry a tilde.

Examples with tilde:

• lápiz → lá-piz (pencil)
• ángel → án-gel (angel)
• césped → cés-ped (grass)
• árbol → ár-bol (tree)
• fácil → fá-cil (easy)

Examples without tilde:

• mesa → me-sa (table)
• ventana → ven-ta-na (window)
• gente → gen-te (people)
• zapatos → za-pa-tos (shoes)
• verde → ver-de (green)

Esdrújulas words

Esdrújulas words have the stressed syllable in the antepenultimate syllable. They always carry a tilde, regardless of how they end. This type of word is less common but easy to identify. Examples:

• música → mú-si-ca (music)
• médico → mé-di-co (doctor)
• plátano → plá-ta-no (banana)
• rápido → rá-pi-do (fast)
• pájaro → pá-ja-ro (bird)

Sobresdrújulas words

Finally, sobresdrújulas words have the stressed syllable in the syllable before the antepenultimate. These words typically are verbs in compound form, with enclitic pronouns added (like me, te, se). These words always carry a tilde. Examples:

• dígamelo → dí-ga-me-lo (say it to me)
• explícamelo → ex-plí-ca-me-lo (explain it to me)
• véndemelo → vén-de-me-lo (sell it to me)
• repíteselo → re-pí-te-se-lo (repeat it to him/her)
• háztelo → ház-te-lo (do it for yourself)

The diacritical tilde

The diacritical tilde is used to differentiate words that may be spelled the same but actually have quite different meanings. It is very important to learn which word is which to avoid confusing their meanings.

Examples:

• Tú tienes un perro, pero tu gato es más juguetón. (You have a dog, but your cat is more playful.)
• Él dijo que el coche era rojo. (He said that the car was red.)
• Quiero más café, mas no tengo más dinero. (I want more coffee, but I don’t have more money.)
• Ese regalo no es para mí, es para mi hermano. (That gift is not for me; it is for my brother.)
• Yo sé que sí se puede lograr. (I know that it can be achieved.)

1

Accentuation rules in diphthongs, triphthongs, and hiatuses

Before defining what a diphthong, triphthong, and hiatus are, it is important to know what a strong vowel and a weak vowel are.

Strong vowels are those pronounced more clearly and forcefully, opening the mouth more: a, e, and o. Since they always have a more intense pronunciation, they tend to be the ones that carry the accent in a word when appropriate.

On the other hand, weak vowels are those pronounced with less intensity as the mouth does not open as much, namely, e and i. Weak vowels can be easier to "hide" or not carry an accent in a word, but if a weak vowel stands alone in a syllable or is not accompanied by a strong vowel, it may carry a tilde to mark the emphasis in pronunciation.

Now that you know these concepts, we can continue with the following:

Diphthongs

A diphthong occurs when two vowels (one strong and one weak, or two weak) are together in the same syllable. Words with a diphthong carry a tilde if the emphasis falls on the weak vowel or if the word follows the general accentuation rules. Examples:

• canción → can-ción (song)
• tierra → tie-rra (land)
• huevo → hue-vo (egg)
• huella → hue-lla (track)
• fuego → fue-go (fire)

Triphthongs

A triphthong is the union of three vowels (one strong between two weak) within the same syllable. They carry a tilde according to the general accentuation rules we saw above. Examples:

• estudiáis → es-tu-diáis (you study)
• Paraguay → Pa-ra-guay
• confiéis → con-fi-éis (you trust)
• buey → buey (ox)
• averiguáis → a-ve-ri-guáis (you find out)

Hiatuses

A hiatus occurs when two vowels, which would normally form a diphthong, are separated into different syllables within the same word. They only carry a tilde if the weak vowel is the stressed one. Examples:

• poesía → po-e-sí-a (poetry)
• día → dí-a (day)
• país → pa-ís (country)
• aéreo → a-é-re-o (aerial)
• raíz → ra-íz (root)

Interrogative and exclamatory words

Interrogative and exclamatory words (qué, cómo, dónde, cuándo, quién, etc.) carry a tilde whenever they are expressing some direct or indirect question or exclamation. Examples:

• ¿Qué hora es? (What time is it?)
• ¡Qué bonito día! (What a beautiful day!)
• No sé cómo lo hizo. (I don’t know how he/she did it.)
• ¿Dónde está mi libro? (Where is my book?)
• Dime cuándo vienes. (Tell me when you’re coming.)

Common accentuation mistakes and how to avoid them

Although the accentuation rules are clear once you learn them, it is easy to get confused and make some mistakes at first. Below, we will review the most common mistakes so you can avoid them:

Forgetting the tilde in agudas words

This is one of the most frequent mistakes, as many people do not correctly identify the agudas words that need a tilde. We recommend studying the table we shared above so you can accentuate the words correctly. Example:

• Incorrect: El sofa es muy cómodo. 
• Correct: El sofá es muy cómodo. (The sofa is very comfortable.)

Forgetting the tilde in graves or llanas words

Remember that graves words that do not end in a vowel, "n," or "s" are the ones that should carry a tilde. Example:

• Incorrect: Este artículo ha sido muy util.
• Correct: Este artículo ha sido muy útil. (This article has been very useful.)

Not using tildes in esdrújulas and sobresdrújulas words

As we saw earlier, esdrújulas and sobresdrújulas words always carry a tilde, but sometimes they are omitted due to carelessness, so be careful with that. Example:

• Incorrect: La cena de anoche estuvo fantastica.
• Correct: La cena de anoche estuvo fantástica. (Last night’s dinner was fantastic.)

Confusing words with diacritical tilde

It is a very common mistake not to include the diacritical tilde when it is needed, or vice versa, but it is crucial that the word in question is spelled correctly for our sentence to make sense. Example:

• Incorrect: Tú sombrero está genial. (You hat is great.)
• Correct: Tu sombrero está genial. (Your hat is great.)

Forgetting tildes in questions and exclamations

Remember that interrogative and exclamatory words like "qué," "cómo," "dónde," and "cuándo" always carry a tilde when used to ask questions or express emotions. Example:

• Incorrect: Que haces?
• Correct: ¿Qué haces? (What are you doing?)

Ignoring accentuation in hiatuses

Remember that when we form a hiatus, it is important that it carries a tilde. Example:

• Incorrect: Este año he visitado muchos paises. 
• Correct: Este año he visitado muchos países. (This year I have visited many countries.)

Accents in capital letters: should they be used?

Yes! Capital letters also carry a tilde when appropriate according to the rules we reviewed earlier.

Although it was previously thought that it was unnecessary, this has changed, and it is now important to accentuate capitalized words under the same rules we use for lowercase letters. Examples:

• ÁNGEL
• CÓMO
• TÉCNICO
• MÉXICO
• ÍNDIGO

Summary

Mastering the rules of accentuation in Spanish is key to achieving clear and effective communication in this language.

Learn to identify the words that need a tilde by practicing daily through the Promova app, and keep writing attentively until you master all the rules without thinking about it.

Keep pushing yourself!