1. ©2005 by Project COACH, UC Irvine
dónde poner los
acentos
©2005 by Project COACH, UC Irvine

2. ¿libreria? ¿farmacia? ¿farmacía? ¿librería?
Do you know where accents go in Spanish?
Well, you could memorize them word by word, but that could be a bit intimidating...
¿libreria?
¿farmacia?
¿farmacía?
¿librería?

3. biblioteca escribiendome arbol limpiaparabrisas examenes facil ´ ´ ´ ´
Or you could try the sprinkle approach, but that’s not too reliable either...
biblioteca escribiendome arbol
limpiaparabrisas examenes facil
Nope…too many errors!!

4. Counting
Syllables

5. iu aeo Accents are easy! You only have to learn a few rules.
Step 1: Count syllables
First, Spanish has STRONG vowels and WEAK vowels.
aeo iu
Strong Vowels
Weak Vowels
Did you notice? Strong vowels (a, e, o) are short and round. They can support a lot of weight! Weak vowels (i, u) are tall and thin. You can knock them right over!!

6. Count syllables by counting vowels.
Use the following formula:
1. Each strong vowel forms 1 syllable. ta re a
2. A weak vowel alone forms 1 syllable. fru ta ci ne
3. 2 or even 3 weak vowels together form 1 syllable ciu dad
4. Any combination of weak/strong or strong/weak forms 1 syllable bai le cie lo cuar to
5. A weak vowel with an accent is considered a strong vowel. Think of it as a crutch! With a little help, it can stand alone.

7. Count the syllables in each of the following words:
despejado 4
dinastía 4
campaña 3
lluvia 2
terciopelo 4
cuerpo 2
horario 3
trineo 3

8. Dividing
Words

9. Step 2: Divide the words into syllables
In Spanish, a syllable usually ends with a vowel, like this:
li bro or so bri no
Exceptions!
1. Don’t split ch, ll, or rr. They’re separate letters in Spanish.
2. Do not divide any consonant next to l or r, unless it’s an s.
con ti nú e de mo cra cia ver sión em ple a do

10. Now let’s divide the same words into syllables:
despejado
des pe ja do = 4
dinastía
di na stí a = 4
campaña
cam pa ña = 3
lluvia
llu via = 2
terciopelo
ter cio pe lo = 4
cuerpo
cuer po = 2
horario
ho ra rio = 3
trineo
tri ne o = 3

11. Stress
Rules

12. ca mi no ha blan ma ris cos
Step 3: Learn the stress rules.
Now that the syllables are divided, see where the stress should go when the word is pronounced.
a) A word ending in a, e, i, o, u, n or s should be stressed on the next-to-the-last syllable (called penultimate - penúltimo en español)
her ma na bai le ca si
ca mi no ha blan ma ris cos

13. b) A word ending in any other consonant should be stressed on the last syllable.
co ci nar ver dad
ca pi tal re loj

14. For each of these divided words, choose the syllable that should be stressed when it is pronounced: ignore the pronunciation - just say what should be stressed!
cli ni ca
sien te se
ul ti mo
mon ton
di fi cil
ki lo me tro
ho rri ble
in te res
a zu car
ca pa ci dad
la pi ces
gra cias
me lo dia

15. All About
Accents

16. ´ ´ ´ Step 4: Learn what accents can do.
Accents serve several different purposes!
a) They move the stress from where it should be based on the stress rules to where it actually is when pronounced.
a zu car
ul ti mo
in te res

17. b) They turn a weak vowel into a strong vowel so that it can form a
b) They turn a weak vowel into a strong vowel so that it can form a separate syllable.
dia
dí a
ac tuan
ac tú an
c) They distinguish certain words from others.
Si = if sí = yes de = of/from dé = give!

18. ¿qué? ¿quién? ¿cómo? ¿dónde? ¿cuándo?
d) They make a word interrogative.
¿qué?
¿quién?
¿cómo?
¿dónde?
¿cuándo?
e) Some words always have accents - like más & sólo

19. Whew. That’s a lot of rules
Whew! That’s a lot of rules! But once you learn them, you’ll never wonder again if a word has an accent. Practice, and you’ll become an ACCENT MASTER.
Now let’s practice! Your teacher will give you a worksheet with a list of words. For each word...
a) rewrite the word in the blank in separate syllables
b) underline or highlight the syllable that should be stressed when it is pronounced
c) listen to the word as it is pronounced and determine if it needs an accent - if it does, add it!

20. acentos dónde poner los ¡Felicitaciones!
Check your work as your teacher goes over the words and tells you which actually have accents.
¡Felicitaciones!
Ahora sabes...
dónde poner los
acentos

21. EL FIN Accents PowerPoint “¿Dónde poner los acentos
EL FIN Accents PowerPoint “¿Dónde poner los acentos? by Shari Kaulig Edited by
Lynda Fine and Cynthia Leathers
Revised ©2005 by Project COACH, UC Irvine