Learn to read Spanish
A short, active path into reading Spanish: five vowels that never move, nine real words decoded before the alphabet, ser against estar, the verb ending that replaces the pronoun, and two short stories before your first book.
Which beat is the loud one
- A word ending in a vowel, in n, or in s is stressed on the second-to-last beat.
- Anything else is stressed on the last beat. Those two rules cover the ordinary case.
- A written accent means the word breaks the rule: the loud beat is where the mark is.
- An accent on an i or a u also pulls a vowel pair apart: díaDEE-ah“day” is two beats.
- A question opens with an upside-down mark, so you see it coming.
English decides which beat is loud word by word and does not tell you. Spanish tells you every time, with two rules and one mark. Rule one: a word ending in a vowel, in n, or in s is stressed on the second-to-last beat. Rule two: anything else is stressed on the last beat.
Where the stress lands
| Spanish | Say it | Why |
|---|---|---|
| casa“house” | KAH-sah | ends in a vowel, so the beat before last |
| ratones“mice” | rrah-TOH-nehs | ends in s, so the beat before last |
| feliz“happy” | feh-LEES | ends in z, so the last beat |
| azul“blue” | ah-SOOL | ends in l, so the last beat |
What the written accent does
| Without it, the rule would give | With it | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| “pah-HAH-roh” | pájaro“bird” is “PAH-hah-roh” | the loud beat moves two back |
| “RRAH-tohn” | ratón“mouse” is “rrah-TOHN” | ends in n, so the rule says beat-before-last; the accent overrides it |
| “DYAH”, one beat | día“day” is “DEE-ah”, two beats | an accent on the i splits a vowel pair apart |
Add a beat and the accent can disappear: ratónrrah-TOHN becomes ratonesrrah-TOH-nehs, where the rule already lands in the right place by itself.
Put the loud beat in the right place
Decide where the stress falls before you reveal.
- azul
Ends in l.
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azulah-SOOL“blue” - ratones
Ends in s, and the accent has gone.
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ratonesrrah-TOH-nehs“mice” - día
The accent pulls the vowel pair apart.
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díaDEE-ah“day”