In all Spanish words, there's one syllable that gets stressed, so we divide words into four groups according to which syllable gets the stress. Let's take a look:

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Palabras agudas (Oxytone words) | Last syllable
Palabras graves (Paroxytone words) | Second-to-last syllable
Palabras esdrújulas (Proparoxytone words) | Third-to-last syllable
Palabras sobresdrújulas (Over-proparoxytone words) | Any syllable before the third-to-last syllable
 
Today, we will talk about palabras agudas. Let’s look at a couple of words:

Palabras como "corazón" o "tambor" son palabras agudas.

Words like "corazón" [heart] or "tambor" [drum] are oxytone words.

Caption 22, Carlos explica - Acentuación Cap. 4: Clasificación de las palabras según el acento

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The word corazón has three syllables (co | ra | zón) and the stress falls on the last syllable “zón.” Similarly, the word tambor has two syllables (tam | bor) and the stress falls on the last syllable “bor.”
 
However, the word corazón has an accent mark (tilde) on top of the “ó,” while the “o” in the last syllable of tambor doesn’t have that accent. Why? Because oxytone words need that accent ONLY when they end in “n”, in “s” or in a vowel:
 

La manera más simple de llegar a Barcelona es con el autobús

The simplest way to get to Barcelona is by bus

Caption 27, Blanca - Cómo moverse en Barcelona

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El coquí es un sapito que tenemos aquí en Puerto Rico.

The coquí is a little frog that we have here in Puerto Rico.

Caption 31, Carli Muñoz - Niñez - Part 1

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The word autobús has three syllables (au | to | bús) and the stress falls on the last syllable. Since this word ends in “s,” we need to put a tilde on the vowel of the last syllable. Likewise, the word coquí (co | quí) is stressed on the last syllable and we need to put the tilde on the “í” since this word ends in a vowel.
 
Important! In Spanish the accent mark ( ´ ) can only be placed on top of a vowel.

There are many oxytone words in Spanish. In fact, all verbs in the infinitive are palabras agudas:

¿Quieres tomar algo de beber, Raquel?

Do you want to have something to drink, Raquel?

Caption 22, Raquel - Presentaciones

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Both tomar ( to | mar) and beber (be | ber) have two syllables and the stress falls on the last one. However, since they both end in “r,” the accent mark is not needed.

That's it for now. If you feel like practicing a little bit more, take one of our videos and try to find all the oxytone words without a tilde. And of course, don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.

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