Syllable Stress and Accent Marks

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.

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What Is Word Stress?

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).

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Dividing Words Into Syllables

Before learning stress rules, you need to know how to divide Spanish words into syllables. Here are the basic principles:

Syllable Division Rules