Showing Stress (Part I)

Hola

In the following lessons we are going to start studying Spanish pronunciation.

Because Spanish is written just like it sounds, spelling is rarely a problem. The only issue that may pose some difficulty is the use of the accent mark (´).

Accent marks aren't arbitrary however. They're used to show which syllable should be stressed in words that don't follow the standard stress pattern. This pattern is easy to learn and can be described by two simple rules:

• If a word ends in a vowel, N, or S, it is generally stressed on the second to last syllable. For example:

CARTA

(LETTER)

MANCHAS

(STAINS)

CANTAN

(THEY SING)

• If a word ends in a consonant other than N or S, it is generally stressed on the last syllable. For example:

MERCED

(MERCY)

CANTAR

(TO SING)

METAL

(METAL)