Grammar Guide - Small Things

AccentsPronounsGenderForming PluralArticlesSome Sound SpellingTyping Accents

Accents in Spanish

If word ends in -n -s or a vowel, the stress falls on next-to-last syllable. If you remember that these – está, están, estás – are exceptions, than you remember the rule.
Words with all the other endings have an accent on the last syllable.
Question and exclamation words – cómo, dónde, qué – always have accents.
Demonstrative pronouns have an accent as opposed to demonstrative adjectives. éste – este libro, éstas – estas blusas
Certain words change their meaning when written with an accent.
cómo how como like
dé give (command) de of, from
él he/him el the
más more mas but
mí me mi my
sé I know se 3rd person pronoun
sí yes si if
sólo only (adverb) solo alone
té tea te you
tú you tu your

A	Referring to males and/or ending in -o	hombre, libro
B	Referring to females and/or ending in -a -ción -tad-dad	mujer, mesa, nación, libertad, universidad
C	Ones referring neither to males or females and having different endings can be of either gender	el lápiz, la clase, la tarde, la noche
D	Many nouns change gender by changing the last vowel or by adding -a to the last consonant	el compañero, la compañera, un profesor, la profesora
E	Many nouns have the same form and differ only by the article	el estudiante, la estudiante
!!!	Some nouns ending in -e change gender by changing it to -a	el presidente, la presidenta
!!!	El día is MASCULINE	el día
!!!	Many words ending in -ma are MASCULINE	el problema, el sistema, el programa

1) ending in vowel	vowel + s	el/un libro la/una mesa	los/unos libros las/unas mesas
2) ending in consonant	consonant + es	un papel la universidad	unos papeles las universidades
3) ending in consonant z	z -> ces	el lapiz	los lapices
!!! to refer to a group consisting of both males and females masculine plural is used	.	el amigo la amiga	los amigos

SINGULAR	Masculine Nouns	Feminine Nouns
Definite Articles	el hombre – the man el libro – the book	la mujer – the woman la mesa – the table
Indefinite Articles	un hombre – a (one) man un libro – a (one) book	una mujer – a (one) woman una mesa – a (one) table

PLURAL	Masculine Nouns	Feminine Nouns
Definite Articles	los hombres – the men los libros – the books	las mujeras – the women las mesas – the tables
Indefinite Articles	unos hombres – some men unos libros – some books	unas mujeras – some woman unas mesas – some table

As you see, two vowels – e and i – are exceptional. To remember them, remember two words – que and quien.

The first two options work with the Number Pad which is located on the right hand side of a keyboard. The last ones work only for MS Word.