Unstressed & Stressed forms
Spanish: AQA A Level, topic 15.3.1
Palabras con y sin tilde - Unstressed and Stressed forms
In Spanish, there is word differentiation when the word carries an accent as opposed to the same word without an accent,
Stressed and unstressed words
- In some cases, the accent is used to differentiate words that are spelled the same.
- cómo / como - how / as
- qué / que - what (as a question) / than, that
- hacia / hacía - towards / he/she used to do
Stressed and unstressed words
- More examples of words that can be confusing are the following:
- te / té - (personal pronoun for 'you') / tea
- de / dé - of / (imperative of dar - to give)
- esta / está - this (before a feminine noun) / he/she is
Examples
- Ella es tan bonita como una flor.
- She is as beautiful as a flower.
- ¿Cómo quieres el té?
- How do you want your tea?
More examples
- Esta silla es muy cómoda.
- This chair is very comfortable.
- Ella está en el cine con sus amigos.
- She is in the cinema with her friends.
Test yourself on Unstressed & Stressed forms
How do you say 'what's your name?' in Spanish?