Spanish Accents and Stress Rules Explained

Spanish accents are not decoration. They follow clear rules, and once you know them, you can pronounce any word you see.

The two basic rules

1. Words ending in a vowel, n or s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable: casa, hablan, lunes.
2. Words ending in any other consonant are stressed on the last syllable: ciudad, hablar, papel.

When the accent appears

A written accent (tilde) shows that a word breaks these rules:

• café: ends in a vowel, but is stressed on the last syllable.
• canción: ends in n, but is stressed on the last syllable.
• fácil: ends in l, but is stressed on the first syllable.
• teléfono: stressed on the third-to-last syllable, so it always needs an accent.

Accents that change meaning

A few pairs differ only in the accent:

Without	With
si (if)	sí (yes)
el (the)	él (he)
tu (your)	tú (you)
mi (my)	mí (me)
se (himself, etc.)	sé (I know)
de (of)	dé (give)

Question words

Question and exclamation words carry an accent: qué, cómo, dónde, cuándo, quién, cuánto.

• ¿Qué quieres? What do you want?
• No sé qué quieres. I don't know what you want.

Capital letters

Capital letters also keep their accent: África, Ángel.

Plural changes

Adding an ending can change where the accent goes:

• canción becomes canciones, with no accent, because the stress now follows the basic rule.
• joven becomes jóvenes, with an accent.

Tips

1. Learn the two basic rules.
2. Notice the accent on question words.
3. Use the dictionary, which shows accents correctly.

Look up any Spanish word with English Spanish Dictionary →