The importance of written accents in Spanish

Written by qualified Spanish expert Inma Sánchez BA

Last updated: 2024-03-02

As a Spanish student, it is important to recognise the importance of the "tilde" (i.e., the written accent ´) that we see written above the vowel in some words. Not only do these accents tell you where the word must be stressed when it is pronounced, but in some cases, the presence or absence of a written accent can change the meaning of a word. 

Let's see some of the most common cases:

• él (personal pronoun) vs el (definite article)

• té (noun) vs te (indirect object pronoun) 

• porque (because) vs por qué (why)

• sí (yes) vs si (if) 

• como (conjunction) vs cómo (interrogative adverb) 

• que (conjunction) vs qué (interrogative pronoun) 

• cuando (conjunction) vs cuándo (interrogative adverb)

• does "solo" have a written accent? 

Depending on when you learnt Spanish, you may have been taught that the word solo needs a written accent (sólo) when it is used as an adverb, (i.e. when it can be swapped for "solamente/únicamente" / the English translation is "only"). The most recent decision (March 2023) from the Real Academia Española (RAE) is: only use a written accent if the context is ambiguous  i.e. if it could be understood to both mean "only" but also "alone/lonely" because the context is unclear, then it is optional to use the tilde on the adverbial form: sólo. Be aware that the Real Academia Española had previously stated in 2010 that a written accent in solo was never required.

In any case, the best rule to remember is that you can never be wrong when you do not use the written accent!

An example of ambiguity is:

Here, the context does not help you understand if the speaker means he works only/just 2 days a week, or if during 2 of the (many) days that he works he finds himself alone, with no colleagues. In this case it's optional to use sólo (with written accent) if the meaning is adverbial, i.e. it means "only" :

WITH TENSES

Often we find a conjugated verb in two different tenses with the same spelling but because they are pronounced differently, one has a written accent and the other doesn't. Have a look and listen to some examples:

• hablo (present tense) vs habló (preterite tense)

• hablara (imperfect subjunctive) vs hablará (simple future tense)

 CASES WITH DEMONSTRATIVES AND VERBS

• esta (demonstrative adjective) vs está (verb estar in the present)

• este (demonstrative adjective) vs esté (verb estar in the present subjunctive)

Just like with solo/sólo, depending on when you learnt Spanish you may have been taught that demonstratives need a written accent when used as pronouns: éste, ése, aquél, etc. The most recent decision by the RAE in March 2023 states that the written accent can be used optionally in cases where it is used as a pronoun and misinterpretation/ ambiguity is possible due to unclear context:

For example, the following phrase can be interpreted two ways:

If the intention of the speaker when saying this is the first translation, referring to "those people, women, girls..." used as a pronoun, the written accent is optional: