REGLAS BSICAS DE ACENTUACIN

Every word has a stressed syllable (slaba tnica). For example,

the word espaol stresses the last syllable.
Word endings and written accents (tildes) provide a predictable
guide to stress syllables in Spanish, allowing you to read any word
correctly.
Words that end in a vowel, n or s = stress the next to last
syllable
clase, examen, mesa
Words that end in a consonant other than n or s = stress the
last syllable
bondad, papel, cantar
Words that do not follow the above rules carry a written accent
to show which syllable should be stressed
caf, exmenes, rbol
A
Las siguientes palabras no necesitan tilde. Subraye la slaba
tnica (stressed syllable), usando las reglas 1 y 2.
e li mi nar (cuatro slabas)
gra cias (dos slabas)
fies ta (dos slabas)
pa cien cia (tres slabas)
ciu dad (dos slabas)
ra cial (dos slabas)
cue llo (dos slabas)
i de a (tres slabas)

co ci na (tres slabas)
va rios (dos slabas)
al co hol (tres slabas)
ai re (dos slabas)
fre cuen te (tres slabas)
suer te (dos slabas)
so cie dad (tres slabas)
eu ro pe os (cuatro slabas)

According to the basic rules, thus, you need two criteria to decide
whether a word needs a tilde or not: a) its ending, b) which
syllable is stressed.
The word regin needs a tilde because
a) it ends with "n" but
b) the penultimate syllable is not stressed.
The word regiones does not need a tilde because
a) it ends with "s" and
b) the penultimate syllable is stressed.
B
La slaba tnica est subrayada. Escriba la tilde si es
necesaria:

poema
poetico
fuerte
feliz
hasta

cancion
canciones
indigena
estan
verdad

origenes
util
sutil
Panama
origen

natural
espaol
ingles
panameo
naturales

Ms prctica: www.bowdoin.edu/~eyepes/newgr/acent.htm

OTROS USOS DE LA TILDE

1. The written accent also indicates stress on a weak vowel (i, u)
that is followed or preceded by a strong vowel (a, e, o):
da, Mara, Ral, odo, ah, raz, mo, do,
geografa
2. A written accent is not used for one-syllable words (fe, ti, tres,
Dios), except to distinguish between certain words that are
otherwise spelled identically, such as:
d
de
give-command
l
el
he/him
m
ma
more
s
s
me
vs.
m
mi
I know
s
se
yes
s
si
tea
t
te
you
t
tu

of, from
the
but
my
reflexive/impersonal pronoun
if
you (object pronoun)
your

3. Another common group of such pairs are question words, which

need a written accent when used as a part of a direct or indirect
question (see 12):
sabe dnde est he knows
cmo ests? how
where it is
como quieras as you
est donde te dije it is where I
wish
told you

Los Deberes
1 La slaba tnica est subrayada. Pronuncie las palabras y
escriba la tilde si es necesaria:
tambien
rio
pues
Dios
enfasis
fe
radio
final
papa
America
imagen

verde
sabana
sabana
Canada
ingles
ingleses
ultima
acento
papa
americano
imagenes

facil
mapa
poema
democracia
aleman
alemanes
maximo
cafe
pase
historia
poetico

transicion
transiciones
caracter
caracteres
espaol
espaoles
minimo
arbol
pase
emocion
geografia

alcohol
articulo
veintidos
sociologia
teoria
teorias
linea
arboles
tomo
tomo

Escriba la tilde donde sea necesaria:

a. Tu hermano habla mas que tu; por eso no quiero hablar con el.
(Your brother is more talkative than you; thats why I dont
want to talk with him).
b. No se como se puede resolver el problema sin mi; mi presencia
es esencial.
(I dont know how the problem can be solved without me; my
presence is essential).
c. Mi vida si puede ser como yo quiero si realizo mis planes.
(Mi life can indeed be as I want if I carry out my plans).