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Knowing which syllable to stress is essential for being understood in Spanish. Fortunately, Spanish has clear, predictable rules for word stress. Once you learn these rules, you will be able to pronounce any word correctly — even words you have never seen before.
Word stress (also called acento prosódico) refers to the syllable in a word that is pronounced with greater force, volume, and slightly higher pitch. In English, stress is unpredictable: compare "REcord" (noun) with "reCORD" (verb). Spanish, by contrast, follows regular patterns.
Tip: Incorrect stress can make you very difficult to understand. In some cases, it changes the meaning of the word entirely: papa (potato) vs papá (dad).
Before learning stress rules, you need to know how to divide Spanish words into syllables. Here are the basic principles:
| Rule | Example | Division |
|---|---|---|
| A single consonant between vowels goes with the next vowel | ca-sa | ca-sa |
| Two consonants between vowels: usually split | par-te | par-te |
| Two consonants that form a blend (bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pl, pr, tr) stay together | li-bro | li-bro |
| Three consonants: usually the first goes with the previous vowel, the last two with the next | com-prar | com-prar |
| Two strong vowels (a, e, o) separate into different syllables | ta-re-a | ta-re-a |
| A strong vowel + weak vowel (i, u) form a diphthong (same syllable) | bue-no | bue-no |
Practice:
Spanish has just two default rules for stress placement. If you know nothing else about a word, these rules tell you where to put the stress.
Words that end in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable (penultimate syllable). These words are called palabras llanas or palabras graves.
| Word | Ending | Stressed Syllable | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ca-sa | vowel (a) | ca-sa | "KAH-sah" |
| ha-blan | n | ha-blan | "AH-blahn" |
| co-mes | s | co-mes | "KOH-mehs" |
| li-bro | vowel (o) | li-bro | "LEE-broh" |
| e-xa-men | n | e-xa-men | "ehk-SAH-mehn" |
| jue-ves | s | jue-ves | "HWEH-behs" |
Memory Aid: The vast majority of Spanish words follow this rule. If a word ends in a vowel, n, or s, stress the second-to-last syllable.
Words that end in any consonant other than n or s are stressed on the last syllable. These words are called palabras agudas.
| Word | Ending | Stressed Syllable | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| ha-blar | r | ha-blar | "ah-BLAHR" |
| ciu-dad | d | ciu-dad | "syoo-DAHD" |
| co-mer | r | co-mer | "koh-MEHR" |
| es-pa-ñol | l | es-pa-ñol | "ehs-pah-NYOHL" |
| na-riz | z | na-riz | "nah-REES" |
| re-loj | j | re-loj | "rreh-LOHH" |
When a word does not follow the two default rules, an accent mark (called tilde or acento ortográfico) is placed over the stressed vowel to show you where the stress falls.
| Situation | What the Accent Mark Does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Word ends in vowel/n/s but stress is on the last syllable | Marks the unexpected stress | ca-fé, can-ción, a-de-más |
| Word ends in a consonant (not n/s) but stress is on the second-to-last syllable | Marks the unexpected stress | lá-piz, ár-bol, di-fí-cil |
| Stress falls on the third-to-last syllable or earlier | Always requires an accent mark | mú-si-ca, te-lé-fo-no, pá-ja-ro |
Examples of Accent Marks Overriding Default Rules:
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