Acentuación/ Accentuation

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Spanish words are classified into 4 categories, aguda, grave, esdrújula and sobresdrújula, depending on where the words are stressed.

A written accent indicates where a word is stressed; however, not all words have the written accent. Therefore, the following rules will be helpful.

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AGUDA

Agudas are stressed in the last syllable. All words that do not have a written accent and end in a consonant other n or s, the stress is on the last syllable.

EXAMPLES:

azul/ blue

avestruz/ ostrich

LESSONS: Banking I & Banking Ia.

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Agudas are graphically accentuated only if the words DO end in n, s or a vowel.

EXAMPLES:

ratón/ mouse

interés/ interest

acné/ acne

LESSONS: Banking II & Banking IIa.

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GRAVE

Graves are stressed in the second to the last (penultimate) syllable. All words that do NOT have a written accent and end in n, s or a vowel, the stress is on the penultimate syllable.

EXAMPLES:

mono/monkey

ave/bird

pato/duck

LESSONS: Banking III & Banking IIIa.

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Graves are graphically accentuated only if the words do NOT end in n, s or a vowels. Note that graves have opposite rules to agudas.

EXAMPLES:

lápiz/ pencil

difícil/ difficult

útil/useful

LESSONS: Banking IV & Banking IVa.

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ESDRÚJULA

Esdrújulas are stressed in the third from last (antepenultimate) syllable. They are always graphically accentuated.

EXAMPLES:

rápido/ quick

pájaro/ bird

América/ America

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SOBRESDRÚJULA

Sobresdrújulas are stressed in the fourth, fifth, sixth, etc. from last syllable. They are always graphically accentuated. Generally, sobresdrújulas are adverbs, which end in mente.

EXAMPLES:

rápidamente/ quickly

fácilmente/ easily

LESSONS: Banking V & Banking Va.