Cyphernaut - Accent Marks (Spanish-Español)
While English words usually don't have accent marks over vowels to tell readers which syllables are stressed, the Romance languages such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Italian frequently use them. In Spanish, it is especially important to indicate if a vowel has stress as it sometimes changes the meaning and usage of the word. So as your Spanish professor would say ¡Ojo con los acentos! (Watch out for the accents!)
The table below presents some Spanish words which are spelled the same the placement of stress changes its usage and meaning. The Spanish word appears in column one and the meaning and usage appears in column two.
| Accent Marks | |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Meaning and Usage |
| ánimo animo animó |
ánimo is a noun that means courage or valor animo is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I encourage' animó is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) encouraged' |
| cálculo calculo calculó |
cálculo is a noun which means calculation calculo is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I calculate' calculó is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) calculated' |
| capítulo capitulo capituló |
capítulo is a noun which means chapter capitulo is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I capitulate' capituló is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) capitulated' |
| célebre celebre celebré |
célebre is an adjective which means famous or celebrated celebre is a verb in the first person singular in the present subjunctive tense which means 'I celebrate' or I 'praise' celebré is a verb in the first person singular in the preterite tense which means 'I celebrated' |
| estímulo estimulo estimuló |
estímulo is a noun which means incentive or stimulus estimulo is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I stimulate' estimuló is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) stimulated' |
| límite limite limité |
límite is a noun which means limit limite is a verb in the first person singular in the present subjunctive tense which means 'I limit' or 'I confine' limité is a verb in the first person singular in the preterite tense which means 'I limited' |
| méndigo mendigo mendigó |
méndigo is a noun which means beggar mendigo is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I beg' mendigó is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) begged' |
| público publico publicó |
público is an adjective which means public publico is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I publish' publicó is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) published' |
| término termino terminó |
término is a noun which means end or terminus termino is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I end' or 'I terminate' terminó is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) ended' |
| título titulo tituló |
título is a noun which means title titulo is a verb in the first person singular in the present indicative tense which means 'I title' or 'I call' tituló is a verb in the third person singular in the preterite tense which means 'he/she/you(formal) titled' |