(FOR A LIST OF THE ALT KEYS THAT YOU USE TO PUT FRENCH OR SPANISH ACCENTS ON YOUR DOCUMENTS USING YOUR PC, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.)
For Spanish Classes:
First of all , we need to know about syllables. A syllable is a section of sound in a word.
Ho-la Has two syllables.
Si-én-ten-se (Siéntense) has four syllables.
Es- cue-la has 3 syllables.
Now that we know what a syllable is, we can learn the main rule:
USUALLY we stress (PUNCH THE SOUND MORE) the NEXT TO LAST syllable.
That’s right- the NEXT TO LAST.
EXAMPLES:
Hablo. (We stress the “hab” and lightly say the “lo”.
Cantas (We stress the “Can” and lightly say the “tas”.
*WE DO THIS WITH THE WORDS THAT END IN VOWELS (A,E,I,O,U) AND THE CONSONANTS N, AND S.
(NOTICE THAT THE VOWELS AND THE CONSONANTS N AND S ARE THE LETTERS THAT END CONJUGATED VERBS.)
HABLO HABLAMOS
HABLAS HABLÁIS
HABLA HABLAN
*NOW, IF THE WORD ENDS IN ANY OTHER CONSONANT LIKE “D”, “R”, “L”, WE STRESS THE LAST SYLLABLE.
HABLAR (WE STRESS THE “AR”)
COMUNIDAD (WE STRESS THE “DAD”)
FENOMENAL (WE STRESS THE “NAL”)
MRS. CALLAHAN! YOU STILL HAVEN’T MENTIONED ACCENTS AT ALL!!!!
O.K., MR. AND MISS IMPATIENT! HERE IT IS.
IF WHEN YOU HEAR/SAY A WORD AND THE SOUND STRESSES (PUNCHES OUT) A DIFFERENT SYLLABLE THAN THE RULE TELLS US TO DO, YOU HAVE TO WRITE AN ACCENT.
“HABLA” (SPEAK) NEEDS NO ACCENT. IT FOLLOWS THE RULES.
BUT
“HÁBLAME” (SPEAK TO ME) NEEDS AND ACCENT BECAUSE WHEN WE SAY IT WE STRESS (PUNCH OUT) THE “HAB” EVEN THOUGH THE “LA” IS THE NEXT TO LAST SYLLABLE.
ONE MORE THING: SOME LETTERS RUN TOGETHER (DIPTHONGS) TO MAKE ONE SOUND. (“AI”, “EI”, “IA”) ONE SET OF THESE LETTERS IS “AI”, SO IN A WORD SPELLED “HABLAIS” YOU SHOULD ONLY HAVE TWO SYLLABLES AND THE FIRST SHOULD BE STRESSED (PUNCHED OUT).
BUT THE WAY WE SAY THE WORD, WE SEPARATE THE “A” SOUND FROM THE “I” SOUND GIVING THE WORD 3 SYLLABLES. (HAB-LA-IS) SO WE HAVE TO PUT AN ACCENT ON THE MIDDLE “Á” TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE DON’T START SLURRING THE SOUNDS TOGETHER. WE SPELL IT “HABLÁIS”.
SO WHERE DO THE ACCENTS GO:
FELICIDAD (HAPPINESS) CANTAR (TO SING) COCINALA (COOK IT)
CAFETERIA (CAFETERIA) HABLAMOS (WE SPEAK)
ANSWERS:
FELICIDAD (NO ACCENT- ENDS IN “D” AND WE STRESS THE LAST SYLLABLE)
CANTAR (NO ACCENT- ENDS IN “R” AND WE STRESS THE LAST SYLLABLE)
COCÍNALA (WHEN WE SAY IT, WE STRESS THE “I”, SO WE ADD AN ACCENT THERE.)
CAFETERÍA (AGAIN, WHEN WE SAY IT, WE STRESS THE “I”, SO WE ADD AN ACCENT THERE.)
HABLAMOS (NO ACCENT NEEDED. WE STRESS THE NEXT TO LAST AS IS NORMAL FOR MOST WORDS.)
(IF THAT DIDN'THELP YOU, HERE IS HOW I EXPLAINED IT BEFORE:)
HERE ARE BASIC ACCENT RULES:
AN ACCENT IS PUT ON A WORD WHEN 1)YOU STRESS A WORD WHERE YOU NORMALLY WOULDN'T AND 2) WHEN YOU HAVE TWO WORDS SPELLED THE SAME BUT WITH DIFFERENT MEANINGS.
USUALLY THE WORDS ARE STRESSED IN TH 2ND TO LAST SYLLABLE, LIKE WITH:
HABLO - THEN NEXT TO LAST SYLLABLE IS "HAB" THE LAST IS "LO". YOU PRONOUNCE IT STRESSING "HAB" NOT "LO".
THE EXCEPTION TO THIS IS:
WHEN A WORD ENDS IN A CONSONANT THAT IS NOT THE NORMAL "N" OR "S" USED IN VERB CONJUGATIONS.
SO, "HABLAR" WHICH ENDS IN AN "R" IS PRONOUNCED STRESSING THE "LAR", NOT THE "HAB'.
"COMUNIDAD" STRESSES "DAD" BECAUSE IT ENDS IN A "D".
THESE EXAMPLES ABOVE FOLLOW THE RULES OF STRESSING THE SYLLABLES, SO THERE ARE NO ACCENTS THERE.
BUT IN THE PAST AND FUTURE TENSES SOMETIMES THE LAST SYLLABLE IS STRESSED TO SHOW THAT IT IS NOT PRESENT TENSE BUT THE WORD ENDS IN A VOWEL. SO WE PUT AN ACCENT ON IT SINCE IT BREAKS THE RULE OF "STRESSING". LIKE WITH, "HABLé" OR "COMIó".
BUT NOTICE THAT THE WORD "DIJO" DOES NOT HAVE AN ACCENT EVEN THOUGH IT IS PAST TENSE BECAUSE IT IS PRONOUNCED WITH THE STRESS ON THE NEXT TO LAST ("DI"), AS IT SHOULD.
THE SECOND REASON FOR ACCENTS WAS WHEN 2 WORDS ARE SPELLED THE SAME BUT HAVE DIFFERENT MEANINGS SUCH AS:
Té= TEA TE= YOU
AS YOU READ IN SPANISH, NOTICE WHEN YOU SEE AN ACCENT AND THINK ABOUT WHY THAT ACCENT IS THERE.
To add accents using your PC,
Hold the ALT key down and type the following numbers on your numbers keypad on the right side. (It won't work with the numbers at the top of the keyboard.)
ALT +
130 é
131 â
132 ä
133 .
135 ç
136 ê
137 ë
138 è
144 É
147 ô
149 ò
150 û
151 ù
160 á
161 í
162 ó
163 ú
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