Let’s learn how to stress Spanish syllables and how different accents affect the sounds of the Spanish letters.

Although your level of competence in pronouncing Spanish properly has very little bearing on your ability to be understood, you can follow some simple steps that should enable you to express yourself in a more acceptable manner. Some suggestions and tips for better pronunciation include the following:

1. Relax and speak slowly. No one expects you to sound like a native.
2. Slip and slide sounds together to get a more natural flow.
3. Lose your inhibitions by reading aloud Spanish newspapers, magazines, and literature.
4. Set aside the necessary time to practice different sounds.
5. Don’t be afraid to “ramp up” your accent.
6. Remember to pronounce letters with accents properly.

STRESS

The rules for stress in Spanish are straightforward, but they do require your concentration at first. In general, Spanish words are pronounced exactly as they are written. Follow these simple guidelines:

1. If a word ends in a vowel, an n, or an s, place the stress on the next to the last syllable, for example: escuela, inteligente, centro, joven, insectos.
2. If the word ends in any letter besides those mentioned above, the stress is on the last syllable, for example: papel, comunicar, salud.
3. All exceptions to the above two rules have an accent over the vowel of the stressed syllable, for example: café, lámpara, inglés, según.

The only exceptions to these rules are words of foreign origin, usually words taken from English, which keep their original spelling and pronounciation, for example: sandwich, Internet.

ACCENTS

Accent marks are small pronunciation guides that help you speak more like a native. Spanish has three different accent marks that may change the sound or stress of the letter.

The most common accent in Spanish is the acute accent (´), which is used only on a vowel and indicates that you must put additional stress on the syllable containing it:

mamá ma-MAH
café ka-FEH
egoísta eh-goh-EES-tah
opinión oh-peen-YOHN
música MOO-see-kah

The tilde (~) is used only on the letter n (ñ), producing the sound ny as in the nio of union:

cabaña kah-bah-NYAH
mañana mah-NYAH-nah

The least common accent is known as a diéresis (¨) and is placed on a u when it is followed by another vowel. A diéresis indicates that each vowel sound is pronounced separately:

nicaragüense nee-kah-rah-goo-WEHN-seh
lingüistico leen-goo-WEES-tee-koh

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