Qualitative (descriptive) adjectives - Hillcrest Elementary

Heteronyms don’t exist in Spanish, because the rules of pronunciation are hard and fast (actually,
they’re simple and fast). h ere are only three rules to learn, and once you’ve mastered them
(along with the sounds of the letters of the Spanish alphabet), you will never, ever mispronounce
a Spanish word again.
1 If a word ends in a vowel, n, or s, the natural accent falls on the penultimate (second-tolast)
syllable. h is includes the vast majority of all Spanish words of two syllables or
more.
Even if you do not know the meaning of some of the following words, you can now
pronounce them (please do so):
coche profesora regla
conejo toro llave
almendra casa mosquito
mesas papas moscas
computadora rancho araña
leche ranchero garaje
comen hablan vives
2 If a word ends in a consonant other than n or s, the natural accent falls on the i nal syllable.
Pronounce the following (don’t worry about meaning . . . yet):
corral ei caz comunidad
hablar juventud collar
ciudad reloj merced
3 Whenever there is an exception to either of the two rules above, you will use an accent
mark. It’s like admitting you’re wrong when you make a mistake or break a rule.
h e accent mark, which is always written from top-right to bottom-let , goes on the
dominant vowel of the accented syllable.
It is crucial that you use the accent mark whenever it is needed. h e accent mark
changes not only the pronunciation, but frequently the meaning of the word as well. Pronounce
the following:
José fantástico televisión
árbol narigón japonés
carnívoro hablé sillín
note h ere are a few one-syllable words that take accents. For these words, the pronunciation
does not change, but the meaning does, giving you another reason to pay close attention
to accent marks and recognize that they are never frivolous. h ere are no accented
one-syllable words without nonaccented counterparts.
WITHOUT THE ACCENT WITH THE ACCENT
de from; of dé give! (informal command)
el the (masc. sing.) él he
mi my mí me (object pronoun)
que that; than ¿qué? what? (interrogative)
se self (rel exive pronoun) sé know! (informal command)
te you (object pronoun) té tea
tu your (informal sing.) tú you (informal sing.)
ve he/she sees vé look! (informal command)
4 practice makes perfect Spanish Vocabulary