If a word breaks this rule, the accent is written: café, canción, inglés; árbol, fácil, lápiz. The accent is always written when the stress is on the third-to-last syllable: música, teléfono, sábado.
That's why the accent appears or disappears in the plural, the feminine or with attached pronouns: canción → canciones, inglés → inglesa, joven → jóvenes, da → dámelo, comprando → comprándolo.
Stressed i / u next to a, e, o carry an accent so they are pronounced separately: día, país, todavía, leído, tenía, hablaría.
| with accent | without accent |
|---|---|
| tú — you | tu — your |
| él — he, him | el — the |
| mí — me | mi — my |
| sí — yes, oneself | si — if |
| sé — I know, be! | se — oneself, himself… |
| dé — (that he) give | de — of, from |
| té — tea | te — you (object) |
| más — more | mas — but (rare) |
| qué, quién, cómo, dónde, cuándo (question, exclamation) | que, quien, como, donde, cuando |
Since 2010, solo and este, ese, aquel used alone are written without an accent.
Translate the words from your reading, review them as flashcards and practise with gap-fill sentences.
wortlo.com →