Note:
I thought these might be helpful to some of us.
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In Spanish, words are spelled just like they sound. In order to take advantage of this simple and nearly perfect system of spelling, one must first know the rules for stress - that is, how to know which syllable is pronounced the loudest.
Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are stressed on the next to the last (penultimate) syllable:
nada
na - da
limonada
li - mo - na - da
zapatos
za - pa - tos
origen
o - ri - gen
compro
com - pro
esta
es - ta
estas
es- tas
Words ending in any consonant except -n or -s are stressed on the last syllable:
doctor
doc - tor
ciudad
ci - u - dad
comer
co - mer
When rules #1 and #2 above are not followed, a written accent is used:
compró
com -
pró
está
es - tá
estás
es - tás
Written accents are also used to differentiate between words that are pronounced the same but have different meanings:
si - if
sí - yes
mi - my
mí - me
el - the
él - he
tu - your
tú - you
Don't think of these rules as burdensome. Rather, view them as your friends. They allow you to pronounce any Spanish word correctly.
Rules for stress
