Norton's Spanish Basics: Audio Podcast

Very Brief Rules for Stress (Accents) In Spanish, words are spelled just like they sound. In order to take advantage of this simple and nearly perfect system of spelling, one must first know the rules for stress - that is, how to know which syllable is pronounced the loudest. 1.     Words ending in a vowel, -n, or -s are stressed on the next to the last (penultimate) syllable: nadana - dalimonadali - mo - na - dazapatosza - pa - tosmanzanasman – za - nas comprocom - proestaes - taestases- tas   escuela es – cue - la 2.     Words ending in any consonant except -n or -s are stressed on the last syllable: doctor                          comer                           ciudadd