Types of Accents (with examples)

Types of accents

There are three types of accents: prosodic accent, the one that establishes which syllable is pronounced with greater intensity (for example: ACsa, citydad); the orthographic accent, that sign that is placed on the stressed syllable of some words (for example: comode, he hasbil) and the diacritical accent, that sign that is used to differentiate words that are written the same, but that have different meanings (for example: cómo / as, mí/mi).

Prosodic accent

Most words have a prosodic accent, that is, they have a syllable that is pronounced with more emphasis: the stressed syllable.

In the word campo, the prosodic accent is on the syllable cam. In the word he hasblar, the prosodic accent is on the syllable ar.

According to the stressed syllable, words are classified into:

Orthographic accent

The orthographic accent (´), also called accent mark, is an orthographic sign, which is the representation of the prosodic accent, but which is placed taking into account the general rules of accentuation:

Diacritical accent

The diacritical accent (´), also called diacritical tilde, is an orthographic sign that is placed in some words to differentiate them from others that are written the same, but are pronounced differently. To place this accent, the general rules of accentuation are not taken into account.

They have a diacritical accent:

Examples of words with a prosodic accent

Examples of accented words

Examples of words with a diacritical accent

1. He (verb to know). I know it will rain tomorrow. (The accent distinguishes it from the pronoun "se")
2. He (personal pronoun). He is José. (The accent distinguishes it from the article "the")
3. Tea (noun). I like to drink tea. (The accent distinguishes it from the pronoun "you")
4. You (pronoun). You are from Spain? (The accent distinguishes it from the possessive pronoun "you")
5. Plus (Adverb of quantity). I don't want any more soup. (The accent distinguishes it from the adversative conjunction «more»)
6. From (from the verb to give). Do not feed the dog so much food. (The accent distinguishes it from the preposition «of»)
7. My (pronoun). I love this place. (The accent distinguishes it from the possessive pronoun "my")
8. Yes (adverb of affirmation). Yes, they will go to the party. (The accent distinguishes it from the conjunction "if")
9. Still (time adverb). I haven't been to Paris yet. (The accent distinguishes it from the adverb "even", synonymous with "even")
10. Who (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun). Who will come to the party? (The accent distinguishes it from the relative pronoun "who")
11. That (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun or adjective). What a nice day! (The tilde differentiates it from the relative pronoun «that»)
12. How many (interrogative or exclamatory pronoun or adverb). How much does this cake cost? (The tilde differentiates it from the relative pronoun «how much»)
13. When (interrogative or exclamatory adverb). When will the train arrive? (The accent distinguishes it from the relative adverb "when")
14. Which (adjective or interrogative pronoun). What is your address? (The tilde differentiates it from the relative pronoun «which»)
15. Where (interrogative or exclamatory adverb). Where's the park? (The accent distinguishes it from the relative adverb "where")

It can serve you: