Too Stressed For Words?

Welcome back for another week. I do hope that all is going well in your lives. This week, I want to focus on word stress or word emphasis. In English, we tend to weigh heavily on the first syllable of a word when we speak. Try saying father, mother, and graduation. Each of these examples, you put some stress on that first syllable such as the fa- in father, the mo- in mother and the gra- in graduation. Many languages have their own ways to stress or emphasize their words. Spanish is no different.

Spanish speakers will always stress the second to the last syllable of any word. Of course there are excepts to that such as if there is an accent mark in another spot or if the word ends with a consonant, but for the most part, always target that second to last syllable. We’ll start off easy and move into some harder words:

madre   emphasize ma- slightly

amigo   emphasize -i- in the middle slightly

busca    emphasize bu- slightly

Now you will see words with an accent mark over the vowel. When you see that, put the emphasis wherever that accent mark appears. Try speaking these words:

único     emphasize the first syllable ú-

están     emphasize the last syllable -án

periódico     emphasize the -ó- in the middle of the word

Then you will find words that do not end with the letter ‘N’ or the letter ‘S’ where the last syllable is stressed. Take a stab at these words:

libertad     emphasize the last syllable -tad

cantar   emphasize the last syllable -tar

catedral     emphasize the last syllable -dral

After a while, you will get the hang of reading and speaking Spanish. You’ll begin to “feel” the nuances of this beautiful language. You’ll take pride in knowing, hearing and feeling it roll off your tongue with ease. Stay well, my friends. ¡Hasta luego!