Stress in Spanish

What is Stress?

In pronunciation of words, specific syllables are pronounced with greater intensity. This is called stress (el acento in Spanish) and does not change the quality of the sounds, just shows that they are articulated louder and clearer.

Default Stress Patterns in Spanish

There are two main stress rules in Spanish:

If the word ends in a vowel or the consonants 'n' or 's' → Stress falls on the second-to-last syllable. For example:

Example

camiseta → ca-mi-SE-ta

t-shirt

dormitorio → dor-mi-TO-rio

bedroom

viven → VI-ven

(they) live

If the word ends in any consonant other than 'n' or 's' → Stress falls on the last syllable. For example:

Example

hotel → ho-TEL

hotel

protestar → pro-tes-TAR

to protest

reloj → re-LOJ

watch

Use of the Accent Mark

When the default stress rules apply to a word, no accent is used. However, use of the accent mark (´) shows that the default rules are overridden. In other words:

If a word ending in a vowel or 'n' or 's' takes an accent mark on the vowel of the last syllable, stress falls on the last syllable.

Example

café → ca-FÉ

café

canción → can-CIÓN

song

the default stress rule requires stress to be one the second-to-last syllable, but the accent mark shows that this rule does not apply

If a word ending in a consonant other than 'n' or 's' has an accent mark on the penultimate syllable, stress falls on that syllable instead of the last one.

Example

árbol → ÁR-bol

tree

lápiz → LÁ-piz

pencil

Whenever stress is on a syllable other than the last or second-to-last syllable, an accent mark shows the stress placement:

Example

teléfono → te-LÉ-fo-no

telephone

música → MÚ-si-ca

music

pájaro → PÁ-ja-ro

bird

cómpramelo → CÓM-pra-me-lo

buy it for me

dígamelo → DÍ-ga-me-lo

tell it to me

Changes in Stress

Since stress patterns are determined by syllabification and word endings, grammatical changes in words such as pluralizing nouns and adjectives can change the stress pattern and, as a result, the need for an accent mark. For example:

Example

canción → can-CIÓN

song

word ending in 'n' and stress on the last syllable, marked by an accent

canciones → can-CIO-nes

songs

word ending in 's' and stress on the second-to-last syllable, no accent needed

joven → JO-ven

young (person)

word endings in 'n' with no accent mark, stress on the penultimate syllable

jóvenes → JO-ve-nes

young (people)