More fascinating facts about Spanish accent marks

If you read my previous post about Spanish accent marks and decided to try your skills at placing accent marks on the ten words given, please find answers below to compare with yours. 

If you are ready to become an advanced user of Spanish accents, keep reading!  Some Spanish words require accent marks, not for purposes of pronunciation, but to differentiate two words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. 

Tú means "you;" tu means "your;"  él means 'he;" el means "the;" té means "tea;" te means "you-object;" mí means "me;" mi means "my;" dé means "give;" de means "of."

And you probably would rather not know at this point that adverbs made from adjectives that carry an accent mark retain the accent mark, as when fácil (easy) becomes fácilmente (easily).  Whew!

It's amazing that one tiny mark running from bottom left to top right (the acute accent) can be the cause of such consternation to language learners.  English speakers find the marks annoying because they are not a feature of the English language, except for a few words borrowed from other languages, such as sauté from French.  Placement of accent marks is just one more thing to have to learn.

But you may be surprised to learn that written accent marks are often troublesome for native Spanish speakers as well.  If you think about it, they already know how to pronounce words, so whether a word uses an accent mark or not is of little interest to them unless they are required to write the word correctly. Spanish teachers for decades have marked down Spanish-speaking students because they just were not interested in putting on those little marks.  

Recently, I found myself leaving off Spanish accent marks, but not without some feelings of guilt.  I learned my Spanish in the classroom where a forgotten or misplaced accent mark was always corrected in red ink!  But on my favorite on line language learning program, Duolingo, the web version has a special feature.

If you beat the clock, you receive 20 points instead of the regular 10 points.  I was not beating the clock very often because I was taking time to write accent marks. (Yes, I know how silly that may sound!) Then I remembered that Duolingo does not count accent marks usage as an error!  The program informs you that you have made an accent error, but the answer is accepted anyway. I was on my way to doubling my point count!  

Now that we have exhausted the topic of when to use Spanish accent marks, do you know how to write a vowel with an accent mark using an electronic device?  The method you use will depend on which device you have, but my life became a lot easier when I started using an iPad and an iPhone. When composing, a quick swipe up on any vowel will give you options, one of which is the acute accent.

Best of luck with placing Spanish accent marks. They are truly not so elusive, and just think of how superior you will feel! 

ANSWERS:  1. apellido 2. aquí  3. árido  4. dócil  5. dogma  6. dogmático  7. eficaz  8. ejecutivo  9. duración  10.  estrés

Are you ready to conquer written accents in Spanish?

Learners of the Spanish language have a lot to deal with — new words, new grammar rules, and new sounds.  Once they get over the shock of all of this newness and begin to write in Spanish, they notice that some written vowels (a, e, i, o, u) have a little mark, technically known as the acute accent, above them. One example is the name of our nearest Spanish-speaking neighbor, México.

"Do  I really need to put those little marks?" and "Do you count off for missing accent marks?" are questions I heard often as a Spanish teacher.  "Yes," and "Yes," were my usual replies.  The accent mark is part of the correct spelling of a Spanish word.

This can be a complicated topic.  Let me try to break down accent use to a few easy steps.

1. Much as I hate to say this,  two pronunciation rules must be memorized (or preferably internalized) before the crucial decision about placing a written accent can be made.  And here they are:

Rule 1: Words ending in a vowel, n, or s are normally pronounced with the stress on the next to last syllable.  Like:  CAma, PLUma, LIbro, VERde, HAblan, muCHAchos.

Rule 2: Words ending in a consonant, except n or s, are normally pronounced with the stress on the last syllable.  Like:  coRRER, desiGUAL casualiDAD, obfusCAR, permisiviDAD, laBIAL

2. The good news is that these two rules will help you pronounce the majority of words in the Spanish language.  The bad news is that if a word, when pronounced correctly by a Spanish speaker, breaks one of the rules, you must write an accent mark over the vowel in the syllable that needs to be stressed.  And the accent mark is often crucial to the meaning of a word.  For example,  paPÁ  (dad) is not the same as PApa (pope).

Ready for some practice?  According to these rules, which words in the opening list would normally be pronounced with the stress on the next to the last syllable?  If you wrote 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 10, then you are correct, because these words end in a vowel, n, or s.  Which words would normally be pronounced with the stress on the last syllable?  Yes, numbers 4 and 7, which end in consonants other than n or s.

Now, if you are still with me, here's the rub:  you must hear a word pronounced correctly to make a decision about the written accent. Put very simply, if a word is pronounced according to the rules, it does not need an accent.  However, if the pronunciation of a word breaks one of the two rules, a written accent tells you which syllable is stressed.

Take a look at No. 2, aqui.  Which syllable should be stressed according to Rule NO. 1?  Yes, the next to the last, in this case, the "a." But the second syllable is stressed when the word is pronounced correctly.  To let everyone know that the word for "here" is aQUI, not Aqui, the word is correctly written as aquí, with a written accent on the "i."

Are you ready to practice?  Here is the list of words above with the syllable capitalized that carries the stress when pronounced correctly.  See if you can determine which words break either Rule 1 or Rule 2 and need to carry a written accent on the vowel of the stressed syllable.

1.  apeLLIdo

2.  aQUI

3.  Arido

4.  DOcil

5.  DOGma

6.  dogMAtico

7.  efiCAZ

8.  ejecuTIvo

9.  duraCION

10. esTRES

By the way, I hope you are NOT feeling No. 10, "stress" over written accent placement.  After some practice, the process becomes fairly automatic.  Answers provided in next language blog, plus some additional observations about the fascinating world of written accents in Spanish. Please feel free to leave questions or comments.

PS:  I suppose you could look up every word in the dictionary to check to see if it carries a written accent, but that would seem to be even more tedious than the above-described method!.