Diacritical accent
The diacritical accent is the accent mark used to differentiate between two words that are the same in spelling but different in meaning. In today’s article, we briefly explain how and where to use it. Take a look!
After having learned the general rules about the graphic accent (or tilde) in Spanish, today we focus on a special case: the diacritical accent.
Let’s get started!
Exception to the rules of accentuation
The diacritical accent mark is an exception to the rules of accentuation in Spanish.
That is because:
1. Most words with a diacritical accent are monosyllabic, i.e. they consist of only one syllable. Therefore, according to the rules, they should not be stressed.
Examples: mí, cuál, él, sí
2. Polysyllabic words (composed of more than one syllable) with a diacritical accent are penultimately stressed words (palabras llanas) that end in a vowel or in N and S. And according to the general rules, they should not be stressed either.
Examples: dónde, cómo, quiénes
This change in the use of the graphic accent (or tilde) is due to the fact that we are talking about a tilde that has a different function from the general one. That is, to mark the difference in meaning and grammatical category of words that are spelled the same.
Let’s see it with an example.
EL = masculine definite article: “the”
Example: El gato, el libro, el escritorio, el papel
ÉL = masculine singular pronoun: “he”
Example: Cuando escuchó su nombre, él se dio la vuelta y me miró
Most common pairs of monosyllabic words
As we have already mentioned, generally words with a diacritical accent are monosyllabic.
Below is a list of the most common pairs of monosyllabic words.
Notice the difference in meaning! This little line changes everything…
DE = preposition
DÉ = verb
Example: Espero que Pilar dé el buen ejemplo y deje de llegar tarde a las reuniones
MI = possessive adjective
MÍ = pronoun
Example: Mi tiempo libre lo dedico a mí y a mis seres queridos
TE = pronoun
TÉ = noun
Example: ¿Te apetece un té?
TU = adjective
TÚ = pronoun
Example: ¿Has cogido tú la bicicleta de tu hermana?
SE = pronoun
SÉ = verb saber and verb ser
Example: Ya sé que todos se quejarán de que siempre llegas tarde a las comidas. Por favor, sé puntual esta vez
SI = conjunction
SÍ = adverb of affirmation
Example: ¿Te parece bien si vamos en bicicleta en lugar de ir en coche? Sí, me parece buena idea
Aún and aun
Aún and aun, are a “somewhat peculiar pair”.
First of all, the word AUN is no longer monosyllabic when it takes the accent mark. In its stressed version, it is composed of two syllables instead of one (A-ÚN).
Secondly, both words (aun and aún) belong to the same grammatical category: they are both adverbs. So, they only differ in meaning.
AUN = Incluso, hasta
ÁUN = todavía
Ejemplo: Aun con el ayuda de María, no he acabado aún de pintar la habitación
Interrogative and exclamatory
The diacritical accent is also used to indicate the interrogative and exclamatory function of certain words (usually pronouns and adverbs).
So, as soon as we see the exclamation mark or question mark at the beginning of the sentence, we know that the first word will have the accent mark.
In affirmative and negative sentences, those same words are unstressed.
Look at the difference in these examples:
CUANDO / CUÁNDO
– ¿Cuándo tienes el examen de español?
– Avísame cuando estés lista para salir
CUANTO/CUÁNTO
– ¡Cuánto tiempo sin verte!
– No te preocupes, come cuanto quieras. Hay más sopa en la nevera
DONDE/DÓNDE
– ¿Dónde compraste las entradas para el concierto?
– La tienda donde compré este abrigo no queda lejos de tu casa
QUE/ QUÉ
– ¿Qué has dicho? No te oigo
– ¡Qué paisaje tan bonito!
– Me parece de mal gusto lo que acabas de decir
– Creo que me he equivocado de camino
QUIEN/QUIÉN
– ¿Quién ha hecho la tarta? Está exquisita…
– Ven a la fiesta con quien tú quieras
Watch out! In indirect speech interrogative and exclamatory sentences, the word that introduce the sentence is also stressed:
Direct speech interrogative: ¿Qué tema vas a tratar en tu próximo artículo?
Indirect speech interrogative: No sé qué tema voy a tratar en mi próximo artículo
Direct speech exclamatory: ¡Qué bien me sentó la infusión!
Indirect speech exclamatory: Ya verás qué bien te sentará la infusión
We hope that today’s article has given you one more tool to orientate yourself in the world of Spanish accents.
If you want to go even deeper into the subject, we leave you with this article from the Real Academia Española.
Finally, our Spanish language school, El Rincón del Tándem, encourages you to continue studying grammar and put it into practice in everyday situations.
If you want to improve your Spanish or learn it from scratch, take a look at our courses and take a free trial lesson!
See you son!
