{"id":7311,"date":"2020-07-23T16:45:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T16:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/?p=7311"},"modified":"2020-07-27T10:33:33","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T10:33:33","slug":"the-utalk-guide-to-spanish-punctuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/the-utalk-guide-to-spanish-punctuation\/","title":{"rendered":"The uTalk Guide to Spanish Punctuation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"2059\" height=\"1456\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384.jpg 2059w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384-250x177.jpg 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384-700x495.jpg 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384-768x543.jpg 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384-1536x1086.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384-2048x1448.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-1055903384-120x85.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2059px) 100vw, 2059px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>From punctuation to pronunciation, move your Spanish up a notch by reading our latest post from Emily, uTalk&#8217;s Languages Manager. You&#8217;ll learn why Spanish questions are always sandwiched between question marks, why you should really be careful to differentiate between &#8216;n&#8217; and &#8216;\u00f1&#8217; and one of the best ways to train yourself to recognise Spanish orthography.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"padding: 2em 1em 2em 1em;\">\n<h2>Contents<\/h2>\n<ul><li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#punctuation\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1. Punctuation<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<ul><li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#questionmark\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.1 Or, \u00bfwhy isn&#8217;t one question mark enough?<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#exclamationmark\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.2 \u00a1Exclamation marks too!<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#numbers\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.3 First, numbers<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#reading\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">1.4 Next, reading<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#pronunciation\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">2. From punctuation to pronunciation &#8211; using accents right<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<ul><li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#tilde\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">2.1 What puts the \u00f1 in Espa\u00f1ol<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#more\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">2.2 Wait, there&#8217;s more?!<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#acute\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">2.3 Acute accents guaranteed to lend you a cute Spanish accent<\/a><\/p><\/li><\/ul>\n<li><p style=\"font-size: 125%;\"><a href=\"#final\" style=\"color: #3d4849;\">3. Final thoughts<\/a><\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether it\u2019s Latin American, Argentine or Castilian Spanish you\u2019ve started learning on our app, it won\u2019t be long before you come across some letters and symbols unique to the Hispanic world. So yes, they did flip their question marks upside down on purpose and no, you don\u2019t want to get una and u\u00f1a mixed up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"punctuation\" style=\"padding: 1em 0 1em 0;\">1. Punctuation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"questionmark\">1.1 Or, \u00bfwhy isn&#8217;t one question mark enough?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While it may not directly affect your speaking, you may be at least a little curious to know why Spaniards write out twice as many question marks as any other language in the world? <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"945\" height=\"641\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.47.48.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.47.48.png 945w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.47.48-250x170.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.47.48-700x475.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.47.48-768x521.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.47.48-120x81.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 945px) 100vw, 945px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019ve used the uTalk app to pick up some Spanish, you may well have already learnt some questions such as \u2018\u00bfTe gusta el f\u00fatbol?\u2019 (Do you like football?) &#8211; but did you know it\u2019s also correct to ask, \u2018El f\u00fatbol, \u00bfte gusta?\u2019 Unlike English, Spanish is much more flexible when it comes to word order.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this example we have a yes\/no question, so let\u2019s break it down and take a look at the basic sentence structure:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_1.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_1-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_1-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_1-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_1-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In English, we instinctively know that if we change this word order then it no longer works as a question. For example, while it still makes sense, \u2018You do like football\u2019 is an affirmative statement, not a question. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In Spanish, however, the same word order rules do not apply, and that\u2019s where the handy upside-down question mark comes in! Place the \u00bf where the question begins (this is not necessarily at the start of the whole sentence!) and the reader then knows when they should start raising their intonation, which in turn lets the listener know that they\u2019ll be required to respond with an answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_2.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_2-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_2-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_2-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_2-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>It may feel a little unnatural and odd to get used to at first, but this is good news, especially when you start forming longer sentences, because a lot of the time you can mix and match word order within a Spanish sentence and still be understood.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here at uTalk, we always say you have to think in your new language, and not translate word for word into your first language \u2013 that\u2019s what the Recall game is for! This is certainly true when it comes to Spanish sentence structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"exclamationmark\">1.2 \u00a1Exclamation marks, too!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Similarly, as with question marks, let\u2019s not forget to flip our exclamation marks too. Without wanting to stereotype, it\u2019s no secret that Spaniards can get passionate about what they\u2019re saying, so for example \u2018\u00a1Que aproveche!\u2019 (Enjoy your meal!) needs to be expressed with the fitting emotion that comes with when you\u2019re about to tuck into a tasty paella or tortilla!&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This also means, for example, if you\u2019re reading a bedtime story to your child in Spanish, you\u2019re never going to have to worry about getting to the end of the sentence and realising you should have been surprised the whole time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-519758134.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-519758134.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-519758134-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-519758134-700x467.jpg 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-519758134-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/GettyImages-519758134-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, like with the reverse question mark, the exclamation point at the start of the sentence is there to help you to get the right tone of voice and sound like you mean what you\u2019re saying, whatever order the words come out in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we\u2019re on the subject of punctuation, there are a couple more differences between English and Spanish that are well worth bearing in mind.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"numbers\">1.3 First, numbers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7332\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_3.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_3-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_3-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_3-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_3-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Where in English we would write 1,000 for one thousand, in Spanish this should be written 1.000. This is especially important when we\u2019re talking about money and prices \u2013 you don\u2019t want to make a bank transfer for one pound only to find out you\u2019ve sent one thousand by accident instead because you got your dots and commas mixed up.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This actually happened to a friend of mine at work and sadly the recipient refused to return the excess payment. Luckily, she still got to keep her job. Needless to say, she didn\u2019t make that mistake again!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"reading\">1.4 Next, reading<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Read any Spanish newspaper or magazine article and you will often see quotations are surrounded by angular quotes marks \u00ab\u00bb. But, when you find speech in a book, you\u2019ll see it\u2019s placed on a new line and indicated with a long dash:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_4.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7333\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_4.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_4-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_4-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_4-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_4-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you delve into a Spanish book you may also notice that there are fewer commas and full stops than in English. (Try \u2018Se\u00f1as de Identidad\u2019 by Juan Goytisolo and you\u2019ll get what I mean!) While full stops are definitely not optional in Spanish, we\u2019ve already seen that word order can be so, grammatically speaking, longer sentences do work just fine.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just don\u2019t forget to breathe when reading out loud to practise your pronunciation! This may also in part account for why Spaniards are famed for speaking so fast, but we\u2019ll save that for another blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"307\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/9788432250033-uk.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/9788432250033-uk.jpg 307w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/9788432250033-uk-250x407.jpg 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/9788432250033-uk-120x195.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"pronunciation\" style=\"padding: 1em 0 1em 0;\">2. From punctuation to pronunciation &#8211; using accents right<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Moving on from grammatical markers around words, let\u2019s look at some markings on the letters themselves. We\u2019ve already seen the word \u2018Que\u2019 in one of our previous examples &#8211; \u2018\u00a1Que aproveche!\u2019 &#8211; but this word is sometimes written with an accentuation mark &#8211; \u2018Qu\u00e9\u2019. Why is that? Before we start getting into that, breathe a sigh of relief because there are only three to get to grips with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"tilde\">2.1 What puts the \u00f1 in Espa\u00f1ol?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>First up, we have the tilde, which nowadays in modern Spanish you will only ever find above the letter n. Think of the \u2018ni\u2019 sound you find in the word \u2018onion\u2019 and you\u2019ve got \u00f1 down.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_5.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7335\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_5.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_5-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_5-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_5-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_5-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, you want to get the pronunciation of \u00f1 right, because you will find it crops up everywhere, including the very name of the language itself (espa\u00f1ol). You will need it if you want to tell someone your age (Tengo 28 a\u00f1os \u2013 I am 28 years old), order a beer in Spain (una ca\u00f1a) and you may even need it more than once within the same word, as you will see in the Ecuadorian term of endearment \u00f1a\u00f1o\/a. From names of places to food and everything in between, time and again \u00f1 will make an appearance, and you\u2019ll undoubtedly develop a fondness for this uniquely Spanish letter.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"945\" height=\"642\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.57.31.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7337\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.57.31.png 945w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.57.31-250x170.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.57.31-700x476.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.57.31-768x522.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Screen-Shot-2020-07-21-at-12.57.31-120x82.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 945px) 100vw, 945px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>A word of warning here \u2013 if you omit the tilde and treat it as a simple n you may find yourself saying something quite different to what you originally intended! For example, ask someone for una ca\u00f1a and you\u2019ll find yourself presented with a cool, refreshing Spanish-sized beer. Perfection! You can\u2019t, however, have u\u00f1a ca\u00f1a, because u\u00f1a means fingernail and we\u2019re pretty sure you don\u2019t want any of those in your drink or food!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll leave you to search out other \u00f1 related cautionary tales, but trust us, there are some tilde-related mistakes you definitely don\u2019t want to make, so no excuses for mixing up n and \u00f1!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Okay, so hopefully you\u2019ve got the picture by now \u2013 pronunciation is super important! Let\u2019s just take a quick look at a couple more. And after that, if you\u2019re left wanting more do check out our handy Alphabet topic in the uTalk app to nail all the sounds in Spanish. It\u2019s a lot to take in but believe us, you\u2019ll thank us one day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 id=\"more\">2.2 Wait, there&#8217;s more?!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_6-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7338\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_6-1.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_6-1-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_6-1-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_6-1-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_6-1-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>So apart from the tilde (\u00f1), Spanish is the proud user of the diaeresis (\u00fc) which you\u2019d be forgiven for thinking was the same as the umlaut. You can find it in the word ling\u00fc\u00edstica (linguistics), which is a convenient example as that\u2019s pretty much the subject we\u2019re on right now! <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_7.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_7.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_7-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_7-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_7-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_7-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll only ever find diaeresis above the letter u in Spanish, and if it\u2019s not there then the straightforward letter u is generally not sounded out at all (guitarra may as well be written gitarra, as the pronunciation is the same.) Simple!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And what\u2019s that mark on the letter i that also makes an appearance in ling\u00fc\u00edstica, I hear you ask.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"acute\">2.3 Acute accents guaranteed to lend you a cute Spanish accent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Introducing the third and final kind of accent marking you\u2019ll come across in Spanish \u2013 the acute accent! You may see it appear on any vowel and it is a crucial marker when it comes to learning the conditional, simple future and past tenses (imperfect and preterite), as well as acting as a handy aid when figuring out where to place the stress on words. This is especially useful for super long words as is often the case when it comes to compound imperatives like administr\u00e1ndoselo!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.learnalanguage.com\/learn-spanish\/spanish-verbs\/\">verb conjugation is obviously a huge area<\/a> but, remember, acute accents are there to help you know how to get the right stress on the right syllable in Spanish (unlike English where you generally have to figure it out for yourself) so trust us, you\u2019ll end up being very grateful for them!<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_8.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_8.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_8-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_8-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_8-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_8-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll only ever see acute accents above any one of the five vowels, and unlike the \u00f1 you\u2019ll only ever see a maximum of one per word (with the occasional exception of compound words). So what should you do if you find one?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s go back to our last example, administr\u00e1ndoselo. With seven syllables to choose from, and the same number of vowels, I think you\u2019ll agree it\u2019s just as well we have the acute accent to help us out. Thanks to the acute accent on the letter a in this example we know we have to place the stress of the word on the fourth syllable.&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s take a look at t\u00fa verses tu. Predictably the pronunciation is affected by the presence or absence of the acute accent. As you would expect the \u2018u\u2019 sound in \u2018t\u00fa\u2019 is longer and more emphatic than in \u2018tu\u2019. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1000\" height=\"784\" src=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_9.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7341\" srcset=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_9.png 1000w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_9-250x196.png 250w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_9-700x549.png 700w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_9-768x602.png 768w, https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/spanishblog_9-120x94.png 120w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only that, but the acute accent changes the meaning as well. \u2018T\u00fa\u2019 refers to the subject pronoun \u2018you\u2019 whereas \u2018tu\u2019 is the possessive pronoun \u2018your\u2019. Similar, but definitely not the same!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a final note, let\u2019s return to one of our very first examples, \u2018\u00a1Que aproveche!\u2019 Que literally translates as \u2018that\u2019, but add an acute accent on the e and you get \u2018qu\u00e9\u2019 which means \u2018what\u2019. A useful question word and reaction to when a Spaniard invites you over for dinner only to find the meal starts at 10pm! (Yes, Spaniards typically <em>do<\/em> hold on that long before eating dinner!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a final note, don\u2019t forget that accent markings not only offer a helping hand when it comes to speaking Spanish, they also contribute to the musical twang of the language which is maybe one of the reasons you\u2019re keen to learn it in the first place! So, although yes, there is a lot of grammar to grasp here, don\u2019t despair because once you\u2019ve got the grammar bits on this post down it\u2019s going to help you sound a lot more native, and thus a lot more fluent, very quickly!&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"final\" style=\"padding: 1em 0 1em 0;\">3. Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There is so <em>so<\/em> much more that could be said on the subject of stress, pronunciation, and intonation \u2013 but hopefully, this has given you a good head start on what to watch out for as you\u2019re exposed to more authentic Spanish material. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A great way to see it in action is to watch Spanish series with subtitles <em>in Spanish<\/em> because then it\u2019ll be easy for you to make the connection between what you hear with the orthography (accents markers as well as punctuation!). This, in turn, will help you with your written and, as a result, your spoken Spanish, and that\u2019ll stand you in great stead for your next Spanish experience, wherever that takes you. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a1Buena suerte!<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From punctuation to pronunciation, move your Spanish up a notch by reading our latest post from Emily, uTalk&#8217;s Languages Manager. You&#8217;ll learn why Spanish questions are always sandwiched between question marks, why you should really be careful to differentiate between &#8216;n&#8217; and &#8216;\u00f1&#8217; and one of the best ways to train yourself to recognise Spanish &#8230; <a title=\"The uTalk Guide to Spanish Punctuation\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/the-utalk-guide-to-spanish-punctuation\/\" aria-label=\"More on The uTalk Guide to Spanish Punctuation\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,9],"tags":[333,1842,8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7311"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}