Written accents do not exist in the English language and thus accentuation is probably one of the most difficult things about learning Spanish, especially for native speakers. Natives have more experience speaking than reading and writing and thus typically struggle with accenting words correctly. Here are the rules for correctly accenting words. You will be able to correctly pronounce ANY word in Spanish once you learn these rules.
First of all, you must know there are 4 types of words in Spanish. You can fit every single word into one of these 4 categories. The names of each type are bolded and follow with the corresponding rules for each.
Quick review...
Vowels = a, e, i, o, u
Consonants = all other letters of the alphabet
1. Llanas or Graves - you may use whichever term you prefer
This is by far the biggest group of words of the Spanish language
The words are pronounced with the stress on the 2nd to last syllable
They end in vowels or the letters N or S
Examples: casa, joven,
Llanas possess a written accent mark if last letter is a consonant, excluding N or S
Examples: ángel, lápiz
2. Agudas
The words are pronounced with the stress on the last syllable
They end in consonants, excluding N or S
Examples: papel, ciudad, hablar (all other unconjugated verbs)
Agudas possess a written accent mark if the last letter is a vowel or N or S
Examples: está, acentuación, francés
3. Esdrújulas
Always have a written accent mark on the 3rd to last syllable
Examples: jóvenes, esdrújula
4. Sobresdrújulas
Always have a written accent mark on the 4th to last (or more) syllable
Example: mándamelo, fácilmente
For a quick review, watch this video. See if you can tell which type of words they are talking about.
Ok, now it's time to practice. See if you can tell me if the following words are llanas, agudas, esdrújulas, or sobresdrújulas and the reason why. We'll do number 1 together. Click on "comments" for the answers after you have finished.
1. Aseguró - aguda because the last syllable is stressed and because it ends in a vowel, there is a written accent mark
2. Caridad
3. Aéreo
4. Exponiéndose
5. Oficina
6. Esperanza
7. Buzón
8. Mándamelo
9. Ladrones
10. Hombre
11. Riéndose
12. Corral
