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Lesson 3: How to Pronounce Spanish Words – Syllables, Stress, and Accent Marks


🎯 Goal

Learn how to break Spanish words into syllables, apply proper stress, and recognize the role of written accent marks.

🧠 Why You Need This

Spanish pronunciation is regular — if you learn the rules now, you’ll never guess how a word sounds. This lesson helps you avoid awkward mispronunciations later.


When learning Spanish, it's not enough to just know what words mean — you have to say them right too. The good news? Spanish pronunciation follows very consistent rules, especially when it comes to syllables and word stress. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to read and pronounce Spanish words confidently by understanding syllable breaks, stress patterns, and accent marks (tildes).

🧩 Part 1: What Are Syllables?

A syllable is a unit of sound that usually has one vowel sound. Spanish words are made of syllables just like English, but the rules for dividing them are more predictable.

🔤 Examples:

  • ca-sa = 2 syllables (house)

  • ma-ri-po-sa = 4 syllables (butterfly)

  • es-cu-e-la = 4 syllables (school)

  • a-mor = 2 syllables (love)

📌 RULE OF THUMB: Every syllable must have at least one vowel.

🔊 Part 2: Spanish Stress Rules (Where to Emphasize)

In Spanish, you usually don’t need an accent mark to know which syllable gets the stress — there are two main rules:

🟢 Rule 1:

If a word ends in a vowel, "n", or "s", the stress goes on the second-to-last syllable.

Examples:
casa – ends in "a" → stress on first syllable
libros – ends in "s" → stress on "li"
hablan – ends in "n" → stress on "ha"

🔴 Rule 2:

If a word ends in any other consonant (not n or s), the stress goes on the last syllable.

Examples:
doctor – ends in "r" → stress on "tor"
ciudad – ends in "d" → stress on "dad"

❗ Part 3: Accent Marks (Tildes) – When the Rules Are Broken

If a word breaks one of the rules above, it will include an accent mark (´) to show where the stress goes.

🔡 Examples:

  • teléfono – breaks Rule 1 → stress moves to the third-to-last syllable

  • papá – breaks Rule 1 → stress moves to the last syllable

  • común – accent added to override Rule 1

📌 Accent marks are only written on vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú)

🆚 Part 4: Stress Changes Meaning

Some words are spelled the same but mean different things depending on the accent.

Word Meaning Stressed Syllable
tú you (pronoun) accented → "tú"
tu your (possessive) no accent → "tu"
sí yes accented
si if no accent
él he accented
el the no accent

🗣️ Part 5: Practice Activity – Try It Yourself

Practice 1: Break the following words into syllables and identify the stressed one (underline it or bold it):

  1. amigo → a-mi-go → mi

  2. ventana → ven-ta-na → ta

  3. árbol → ár-bol → ár

  4. difícil → di-fí-cil → fí

  5. reloj → re-loj → loj

Practice 2: Which words should have accent marks?
(Say them aloud to test the stress.)

  • telefono → Should be: teléfono

  • papa (dad) → Should be: papá

  • como (how) → Should be: cómo

🧠 Bonus Tip: Don’t Overcomplicate It

In English, word stress can be random (think “record” vs. “record”) — but in Spanish, it’s mostly logical. Mastering these rules will help you read out loud, pronounce words naturally, and even spell correctly without guessing.

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