Writing & less common forms
Knowing when to add an accent
Written accent marks
Mark stress or distinguish certain otherwise identical words.
The pattern
- For words of more than one syllable, a stressed final syllable takes a written accent (tilde) when the word ends in a vowel, or n/s after a vowel: café, canción, compás.
- A stressed second-last syllable takes a tilde with other endings: fácil, lápiz, bíceps. A final y counts as a consonant.
- Stress on the third-last syllable or earlier always takes a tilde: música, dímelo.
- Most one-syllable words have no tilde. Certain pairs distinguish meaning: tú/tu, él/el, sí/si.
Él vive aquí.
He lives here.
Why it works: Él means he and takes a distinguishing accent. Aquí needs an accent because its final syllable is stressed and it ends in a vowel.
Notice the difference
El libro es para mí.
The book is for me.
Why it works: El is the article the, so it has no accent. Mí is the pronoun me, distinct from possessive mi in mi libro.
One thing to watch for
A stressed i or u next to a, e or o takes a tilde to mark separate syllables: día, país, hacía. Ñ is a separate letter, not an optional accent.