Have you noticed that English-speakers tend to change vowel sounds to produce an "accent"? For instance, in the South, a "Sprite" becomes a "Sprahte"; in New York a "soda" becomes a "soder", in Western Pennsylvania an "orange" becomes an "arnge".

In Spanish, the vowels remain constant and it is the consonants that vary: Castillian Spanish-speakers use the "theta" sound for Ci, Ce and Z - it sounds like the "th" in the word "tooth". So in Madrid, the word zapatos sounds like `thah-PAH-tos'.

In Argentina and Uruguay, y and ll sound like the "zh" in rouge and garage, instead of the "y" sound used everywhere else.  We will be learning standard Latin American Spanish in this course. Just keep in mind that you will hear regional differences among Spanish speakers.

Vowels

There are only five vowels in Spanish, and they are always pronounced in the same manner:

The three rules of pronunciation covering accent marks and basic word stress:

• Rule #1: Words that end in S, N or a vowel are stressed on the next to last syllable. For example:

• Rule #2: Words that end in all other consonants (not S or N) are stressed on the last syllable. For example:

• Rule #3: Words that do not obey the first two rules require an written accent mark on the stressed syllable. For example:

Grouping Vowels

We're going to focus on Grouping #1 -How vowels relate to other vowels. Pairing vowels together will affect how a vowel is pronounced:

• Strong vowels each count as a separate syllable and are voiced equally:

vi-de-o

ta-re-a

al-mo-ha-da*

*remember the "h" is silent!

• However, a weak and a strong vowel count as one vowel sound and glide together.  This single sound is called a "diphthong".

  sue-gra

  far-ma-cia

  i-dio-ta

  oi-ga

  Mau-ri-cio

In a diphthong the stronger vowel will carry the stress and be pronounced louder (see the second grouping above.) The weak u takes on an English w sound while the weak i will take on an English y sound. The i is the weakest vowel of the five.

When two weak vowels make a diphthong, the stress rests on the second of the two weak vowels.

cuidado

viuda

• Again, any variation in pronunciation from these rules requires a written accent.


• So if the Stress should be on the Strong vowel but isn't:
  • leído
  • baúl

Accents marks also determine meaning.  Accent marks change word meanings as much as changing any other letter would.

Therefore, when you see a one-syllable word wearing an accent mark, you know that there is another identical word but without the accent mark that means something completely different: