La silabificación y los acentos

Muchos estudiantes me dicen que no saben usar bien los acentos - o veo que tienen dificultad con la escritura. Los acentos en español no son tan difíciles cuando sepan unas reglas breves.

Antes de aplicar las reglas, hay que entender las sílabas en español. Cada palabra se puede dividir en sílabas – y UNA sílaba es más fuerte que las otras. O mejor dicho, el sonido de UNA VOCAL suena más fuerte que los otros en la palabra.

HO – la you hear the "O" loudest
es – pa – ÑOL you hear the "O" loudest
gra – MÁ – ti – ca you hear the second "A" or "MA"
bien – ve – NI – dos you hear the "I" or "NI" loudest


Si puedes identificar la sílaba más fuerte (la sílaba tónica), puedes aplicar las reglas del acento:

  1. If a word ends in VOWEL, N o S:    Stress should be on the next to last syllable
  2. If a word ends in any other letter: Stress should be on the last syllable.
  3. If the word breaks its rule, it needs an accent mark. 

If we look at the same example words:

HO – la ends in A, so the next to last syllable should be stressed. It is, so it does not need an accent mark.
es – pa – ÑOL ends in L, so the last syllable should be stressed. It is, so it does not need an accent mark.
gra – MÁ – ti – ca ends in A, so the next to last syllable should be stressed. However, the third from the end is stressed, so it DOES need an accent mark.
bien – ve – NI – dos ends in S, so the next to last syllable should be stressed. It is, so it does not need an accent mark.

Here are two YouTube videos that explain the syllable and accent rules. There are a ton of videos online to explain this (and any other grammar topic you come across). If you ever find one that you really like, please share it!

Accent marks in Spanish basic rules by MyJSalmon. This is a clear explanation and doesn't rush. The video is 14 mins but the explanation ends at 9 mins, followed by examples.
URL: https://youtu.be/f75VaiK7z0Q

Spanish Accent (pronunciation) Rules - Las reglas de acentuación by MaestroKaplan. This is also a good explanation although he moves more quickly.
URL: https://youtu.be/H7HIxXgKilI