Grammar guide The rule
Spanish accent marks: when to write them
Every Spanish word has a stressed syllable, but only some mark it with a written accent (tilde). Two stress rules and a short list of pairs tell you which.
The rules
Find the stressed syllable, then check it against the default.
- Default stress
- No accent when the stress is regular Words ending in a vowel, n or s stress the second-to-last syllable; all others stress the last one. casa, examen, joven · hablar, ciudad, reloj
- Exceptions
- Write the accent When the stress falls anywhere else, the accent marks it; the third-to-last syllable always takes one. canción, café, árbol, fácil, música, rápido
- Plurals and forms
- The accent can come or go An extra syllable moves the word into the other rule, so the accent appears or disappears. examen → exámenes · canción → canciones · joven → jóvenes
- Pairs and questions
- Accents that change meaning Short words that differ only by the accent, and question and exclamation words. él/el, tú/tu, sí/si, mí/mi, té/te · ¿Qué? ¿Cómo? ¿Dónde?
Typical mistakes on this topic
- Spanish accent marks: missing tilde Escuché una cancion muy bonita. Escuché una canción muy bonita.
- Spanish accent marks: tilde where none is needed Es un chico jóven y amable. Es un chico joven y amable.
- Accent marks in plurals: examen → exámenes Tenemos dos examenes la próxima semana. Tenemos dos exámenes la próxima semana.
- Accents that change meaning: él/el, tú/tu, sí/si El dijo que tu tienes razón. Él dijo que tú tienes razón.
- Accents on question words: qué, cómo, dónde ¿Que quieres comer hoy? ¿Qué quieres comer hoy?
What YabLab does with this mistake
- Catches it right as you write — comments, email, docs.
- Explains the why in your language, not just the fix.
- Helps you practice it until it is gone for good.
Grammar topics explained
- Ser vs estar: when to use each in Spanish
- Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each in Spanish
- Por vs para: how to choose in Spanish
- Spanish subjunctive: when to use it
- Spanish direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)
- Saber vs conocer: which “to know” to use
- Stem-changing verbs in Spanish (e→ie, o→ue, e→i)
- Irregular preterite verbs in Spanish