Syllables, Stress, and Written Accents Syllables There are two kinds of vowels in Spanish: strong vowels (A, E, O), and weak vowels (I, U). When strong vowels are placed together, they make separate syllables. When weak vowels combine with other vowels, they form a diphthong (two vowel sounds in one syllable). Examples Two strong vowels together (separate syllables): feo , emplea r, barbacoa Strong vowel and weak vowel together (blended sound with emphasis on the strong vowel): pue rta, tie rra, bai le Two weak vowels together (blended sound with emphasis on the second vowel): cui dado, fui mos, viu da In order for a word to have a weak vowel sound and a strong vowel sound next to each other without blending together in a diphthong, the weak vowel must have a written accent. día , frío , policía Note: The letter U is silent in gue-, gui-, que-, and qui-, and does not therefore count as a vowel. (Examples: guerra, guisantes, que, quince). For more on this, see the section of the pronunciation guide for the letter U. Stress Spanish syllable stress is very predictable. When dealing with words that have more than one syllable, there are only three rules to know. Rule #1 Words that end with: a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the penultimate (next-to-last) syllable. Examples: pa ra, co mo, cuan do, prime ro, enton ces, princi pio, necesa rio. Note: The vast majority of Spanish words fall into this category. Rule #2 Words that end in any consonant besides n or s are stressed on the last syllable. Examples: estar , usted , fatal , hotel , mujer . Rule #3 Exceptions to the first two rules must have a written accent mark on the stressed vowel of the intended syllable. Examples: así , también , inglés , cré dito, razón , nú mero. Copyright 2009 by S. Robert Nielsen http://www.languagepossible.com 88 Table of Contents