B2 writing is penalised for missing accents. Unit "The alphabet and pronunciation" gave the three basic rules; here is the full system.
1 · The basic rules (review)
| Word type | Stress | Written accent when the word ends in… | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| aguda | last syllable | vowel, -n, -s | café, canción, compás, sofá — but reloj, ciudad, hablar |
| llana (grave) | second-to-last | any consonant except -n, -s (and -s after consonant: bíceps) | árbol, fácil, lápiz, móvil, cárcel — but casa, examen, lunes |
| esdrújula | third-to-last | always | música, rápido, teléfono, miércoles, pájaro |
| sobresdrújula | before third-to-last | always | dígamelo, explícaselo, cómpratelo |
2 · Diphthongs and hiatus
- Strong vowels: a, e, o. Weak vowels: i, u.
- Diphthong (one syllable): weak + strong, strong + weak, weak + weak: ciu-dad, au-la, bai-le, rui-do. The accent follows the general rules and, if needed, goes on the strong vowel: can-ción, después, a-diós.
- Hiatus (two syllables) of strong + strong: normal rules: le-ón, cre-a, ca-er, po-e-ta.
- Hiatus with a stressed weak vowel (í, ú next to a, e, o): always written accent, even against the general rules: dí-a, pa-ís, Ra-úl, ba-úl, o-í-do, re-ír, ma-íz, tí-o, frí-o, le-í-do, ac-tú-a, con-ti-nú-a, en-ví-o.
That is why the imperfect of -er/-ir verbs always has an accent: comía, vivíamos, tenían (hiatus í-a). And país has an accent but pais-a-je does not.
3 · Monosyllables
Words of one syllable never take a written accent (fue, fui, dio, vio, pie, bien, sol, mes, guion, truhan), except the diacritic ones that distinguish pairs:
| With accent | Without accent |
|---|---|
| él (he) | el (the) |
| tú (you) | tu (your) |
| mí (me) | mi (my; musical note) |
| sí (yes; himself) | si (if; note) |
| té (tea) | te (you, pron.) |
| sé (I know; be!) | se (pronoun) |
| dé (give, subj.) | de (of) |
| más (more) | mas (but, literary) |
Since the 2010 reform: guion, truhan, fie, rio (he laughed) are monosyllables for spelling purposes and have no accent. Solo (only) and demonstratives (este, ese, aquel) are written without accent (Unit 11); the accent is allowed only to avoid real ambiguity.
4 · Interrogatives and exclamatives
qué, quién, cuál, cuánto, cómo, dónde, cuándo, adónde — with accent in direct and indirect questions and exclamations: No sé qué hacer. Pregúntale cuándo llega. ¡Cómo has crecido! Without accent as relatives or conjunctions: El libro que leo. Cuando llegue, te llamo.
5 · Adverbs in -mente and compounds
- -mente adverbs keep the accent of the adjective, if it had one: rápido → rápidamente; fácil → fácilmente; común → comúnmente; but lento → lentamente.
- Compounds written as one word follow the general rules: décimo + séptimo → decimoséptimo; balón + cesto → baloncesto; ciempiés (aguda in -s).
- Verbs with attached pronouns follow the general rules: da + me → dame (no accent); di + me + lo → dímelo; explica + se + lo → explícaselo; mirando + te → mirándote; poner + se → ponerse (no accent).
6 · Aun / aún
- aún = todavía (still, yet): Aún no ha llegado.
- aun = incluso (even): Aun así, lo intentaré. Aprobaron todos, aun los que no estudiaron.