Contents · A2
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In Spanish, words of one syllable are normally written without an accent: fui, fue, vi, dio, ti, pie. A few take an accent to tell them apart from another word spelt the same way: this is the diacritic accent (tilde diacrítica).
The accent that tells two words apart: él, tú, mí, sí, sé, té#
Formation
In each pair, the word without an accent is an article, a possessive, an object pronoun or a conjunction, which leans on the next word in speech; the word with an accent is a stressed pronoun, a verb, a noun or an adverb, said with more force.
| No accent | With an accent |
|---|---|
| el: the (article) | él: he, him (pronoun) |
| tu: your (possessive) | tú: you (subject pronoun) |
| mi: my (possessive) | mí: me (after a preposition) |
| te: you (object pronoun) | té: tea |
| si: if (condition, indirect question) | sí: yes |
| se: himself, herself… (pronoun) | sé: I know (saber) |
Esta and está. Esta and está are not a pair with a diacritic accent: they differ in the stressed syllable. Esta (“this”) is stressed on the last syllable but one and has no written accent; está (estar) is stressed on the last syllable and, ending in a vowel, takes a written accent.
Ti has no twin and is written without an accent: para ti. Más (“more”) takes an accent, as do the question and exclamation words: qué, cuándo, dónde.
- Él trabaja en el hospital.He works at the hospital.
- ¿Tú conoces a tu vecina?Do you know your neighbour?
- Este regalo es para mí: me lo da mi hermana.This present is for me: my sister is giving it to me.
- No sé si Ana se levanta temprano.I don't know if Ana gets up early.
- ¿Quieres té? — Sí, gracias.Would you like some tea? — Yes, please.
Difference from English
English writes no accents at all, so each Spanish accent has to be learnt: it changes the word. Si is “if” and sí “yes”; tu is “your” and tú “you”; el is “the” and él “he”. In speech, the two words of each pair sound almost the same, and the sentence shows which one is meant. A word of one syllable outside these pairs takes no accent, even a verb in the past: fui, fue, vio, dio.
Common mistakes
Si, claro.→ Sí, claro.“Yes” is written sí.Yo no se.→ Yo no sé.“I know” is written sé.Es para tí.→ Es para ti.Ti is written without an accent.Mi hermano esta en el jardín.→ Mi hermano está en el jardín.The form of estar takes a written accent.Fuí al cine.→ Fui al cine.A word of one syllable has no accent, except in a pair such as él / el.
In short
| Point | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| word of one syllable | no accent | fui, vio, ti |
| el / él | article / pronoun | el libro; es él |
| tu / tú | possessive / subject pronoun | tu casa; ¿y tú? |
| mi / mí | possessive / pronoun after a preposition | mi casa; para mí |
| te / té | pronoun / noun | te llamo; un té |
| si / sí | condition / yes | si llueve; sí, claro |
| se / sé | pronoun / saber | se levanta; no sé |
| esta / está | demonstrative / estar | esta casa; está aquí |
Practise
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