• To understand when accents are used in Spanish in order to improve spelling and pronunciation
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Spanish Accents
á é í ó úá é í ó ú
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Los acentos:Los acentos:Accents are marks that we use for threedifferent reasons in Spanish. Theyindicate:
• that a word does not follow the rules of stress ie... lápiz
• a change in meaning from another word ie... sí / si él / el
• Question words ie... Cuándo, Qué
Accents are marks that we use for threedifferent reasons in Spanish. Theyindicate:
• that a word does not follow the rules of stress ie... lápiz
• a change in meaning from another word ie... sí / si él / el
• Question words ie... Cuándo, Qué
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Rules of stress:
If a word ends in a vowel, n or s, then the stress falls on the next to the last syllable.
eg: hola, casa, llamo, uno, cinco, bueno, hambre, fruta, fresa, vino, agua, lechecucharas, manzanas, viven, comen, beben
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If the word ends in a consonant other than n or s, then the stress falls on the last syllable.
eg: comer, beber, arroz, yogur, pastel
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Any exception to the above rules must have a written accent.
They fall mainly into the following groups:
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Words with a stressed final vowel
eg: café, está, champú
which includes lots of verbs in the past tense:
eg: bebí, comí, compré, pagué
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Words ending in n or s and stressed on the last syllable:
eg: jamón, melón, melocotón inglés, japonés, portugués
Words ending in a consonant other than n or s and stressed on the next to last syllable:
eg: Cádiz, lápiz, Jiménez, Almodóvar
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Words stressed on any other syllable
eg: riquísimo, buenísimo, malísimo Córdoba, teléfono, kilómetro
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Accents
• Always go on a vowel
• Are a strong mark beginning right over the middle of a vowel and going up at an angle to the right.
áá
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OK – let’s have a go
Do the following have accents and if so where?
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pastapollotomesaligatoperropedirata
coloquebocadilloconejoserpientecambiomaquilloarregleafeite
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pajarosemafaroBarcelonaZaragozachocolateCacerescomicomiercoles
limoncancionmartescartascortescochesjaboncomen
