After the last modification I made to the Rules of Stress and Accents in Spanish journal that I wrote, I've had this constant nagging in the back on my head telling me that it was still incomplete, mainly because it's pretty vague when it comes to accents in single-syllable words. I've been meaning to do something about it, but as usual, laziness takes over and I never really get anything done.

So I want to thank *LOVEintheSNOW for reminding me of this.


Now, personally, I know jack about how accents in monosyllabic words work. God knows I still mess them up when writing, and I honestly don't know if there are any simple, established rules that tell us when to write them and when not to.

However, while looking at some stuff in the school diary we were given by our school, I noticed some spelling rules which also include some observations on monosyllabic words, and that's the best I've got for now, so I'm gonna do my best to translate them as faithfully to the original text as I can. Here we go...






Monosyllabic words usually carry no accent, except for...

Sí (yes), so as to not confuse it with si (if).

Example: Si me dices que sí, te casarás conmigo. (If you say yes, you will marry me)



Dé and sé, so as to not confuse them with de (preposition) and se (pronoun).

Examples: Espero que Laura no nos dé tarea de Matemáticas. (I hope Laura won't give us Math homework)

Sé que debo hacer tarea, pero no se puede. (I know I must do homework, but it can't be done)



Él, tú, mí (pronouns), so as to not confuse them with el (article) and tu, mi (adjectives).

Examples: Él es el guitarrista de la banda. (He is the band's guitarist)

Tú tienes tu comida. Yo compro mi propia comida, y es solo para mí. (You have your own food. I buy my own food, and it's only mine (for me))



Más (adverb), so as to not confuse it with mas (conjunction).

Example: Este es el más barato, mas no el mejor. (This is the cheapest, but not the best)




The conjunction "o" will carry an accent only between numbers, so as to not confuse it with zero.

Example: Estaré ahí como en 15 ó 20 minutos. (I'll be there in around 15 or 20 minutes)




Aún (time adverb) shall be written with an accent when it is a synonym of todavía (yet, still).

Example: El padre aún no ha llegado. (The priest hasn't arrived yet)




Fue, fui, vio, dio shall be written without an accent.

Example: Eric fue al cine, vio una película y después dio un paseo. (Eric went to the cinema, watched a movie, and then took a stroll)






Annnnnnd... that's about it, I guess. Yeah. I'll search for more on this, but if anyone has anything to add or correct, please feel free to do it. I hope this is helpful for someone out there.

Cheers.