AP Spanish Study Sheet: Accents, Punctuation, and Syntax

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1 Page 1 of 7 Figure It Out! Él es el hermano de mi amigo. Lucas, yo soy tu padre y tú eres mi hijo. Esta frazada fue hecha por mi abuela que está en México. Mi madre es muy importante para mí. Sé que él se baña todos los días. Déle algunas de sus cosas a él. Es verdad que él habló ayer, pero yo hablo ahora. Es importante que este pasaporte esté contigo mientras viajas. What do the bolded words have in common? How are they different? How do the differences between those words affect them? Introduction Many times, seemingly little things add up to make big things. In Spanish, those little things include accent marks, punctuation, and syntax (word order). Quite often a word changes its meaning depending on whether or not it has a written accent mark. A misused accent mark can also affect the subject and the tense of a verb. Needless to say, that little accent mark makes a big difference in Spanish. Punctuation is also very important. Spanish punctuation is quite similar to English punctuation, but there are certain differences that you should learn. Finally, word order plays an important role not only in the grammaticality of a sentence, but also in the meaning and importance of each element in it. So special care must be taken in learning these little things so that they can add up to make a big thing success in Spanish and on the AP Spanish Language Exam. Accentuation Written accent marks have two important roles in Spanish: 1. To indicate where the stress or emphasis falls on a word when it is pronounced 2. To help differentiate between identically spelled one-syllable words Accent marks are written only over vowels: á, é, í, ó, ú. As shown, they are written as a short diagonal line that goes from the lower left to the upper right. Be sure you know the difference between the terms "stressed" and "accented" when referring to vowels. A stressed vowel is simply one that gets more emphasis or "umph" than the other vowels in the word. That emphasis may or may not be marked by an accent mark. If it is, you can also say that the vowel is accented. The general rule is that if a word is stressed regularly, then no written accent is required. However, if a word is stressed irregularly, the position of the stress must be identified by a written accent on the stressed vowel. The following rules regarding written accent marks assume that you know which syllable of a word receives the stress, either regularly or irregularly. Examples and exceptions follow each rule. The syllable in all capital letters is the one that receives the stress.

2 Page 2 of 7 Words that contain only one syllable do not require an accent mark, unless it is needed to distinguish it from another word that is spelled the same way but has a different meaning. Some examples are provided below, under Rule # 5. If a word ends in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), n, or s, then the natural stress falls on the next-tolast syllable and there is no written accent. The following table breaks down the word interesante. in te re SAN te Some examples of this rule include: palabra, imposible, cursi, examen, estrellas, etc. All exceptions to this pattern must have a written accent mark. These are words that end in a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), n, or s, and the stressed syllable is not the next-to-last. The following table analyzes the words Panamá and película, and shows why they need accent marks. pe Pa na MÁ LÍ cu la Some examples of this part of the rule include: mamá, aquí, menú, millón, inglés, etc. If a word ends in a consonant other than n or s, then the natural stress falls on the last syllable and there is no written accent. For example, consider the word felicidad: fe li ci DAD Some examples of this rule include: regresar, mujer, caracol, reloj, ajedrez, etc. All exceptions to this pattern must have a written accent mark. These are words that end in a consonant other than n or s, and the stressed syllable is not the last one. For example, the word difícil, which requires a written accent: di FÍ cil Some examples of this part of the rule include: Gómez, lápiz, fácil, imbécil, cárcel, etc.

3 Page 3 of 7 In any word of three syllables or more, if the natural spoken stress falls on any syllable other than the last or the next-to-the-last, the vowel of that syllable must be marked with a written accent. For example, the word relámpago: re LÁM pa go Some examples of this rule include: esdrújula, exámenes, práctica, lámpara, dámelo, etc. A written accent is required to distinguish between homonyms (words that sound the same but have different meanings). Many of these words have only one syllable, and so constitute an exception to Rule # 1 above. These also include pronouns and different conjugations of the same verb. The following are some examples. aquél (that one) aquel (that) más (more) mas (but) aún (still) aun (even) mí (to me) mi (my) dé (give) de (of, from) sé (I know; be) se ( self) él (he) el (the) sí (yes) si (if) está (is) esta (this) sólo (only) solo (alone) esté (he may be) este (this) té (tea) te (to you) habló (he spoke) hablo (I speak) tú (you) tu (your) A written accent is required to separate certain combinations of vowels (diphthongs) containing weak vowels (i or u) so that they can be pronounced as two separate syllables. The accent is written over the weak vowel (i or u). Some examples of this rule include: baúl, continúa, país, hacía, heroína, etc. Interrogative (question) words carry a written accent. The following are some examples. Qué? What? Which? Quién(es)? Who? Por qué? Why? A quién(es)? To whom? Para qué? What for? Con quién(es)? With whom? Qué tal? How? De quién(es)? Whose? Cuál(es)? Which one(s)? Dónde? Where? Cuánto/a? How much? Adónde? Where to? Cuántos/as? How many? De dónde? Where from? Cuándo? When? Cómo? How? Punctuation The following contains some key punctuation guidelines for Spanish. You'll notice that some of them are different from the English rules that you're familiar with.

4 Page 4 of 7 Capitalization Periods Commas Colons Semicolons Upper case letters are used with: Lower case letters are used with: The beginning of sentences. Example: Mi hermana es muy bonita. Proper nouns, but not with the adjectives derived from them. Examples: Argentina, la vida argentina Adjectives that are part of a proper name. Example: Los Estados Unidos The definite article associated with a proper name. Example: El Cairo Titles of newspapers. Examples: El País, La Nación Points of the compass when they are used as part of a name. Example: América del Norte Months, seasons, and days of the week. Examples: julio, verano, viernes. Names of religions and their followers. Examples: el catolicismo, los católicos Official titles. Examples: el señor Velásquez, doña Graciela Book and film titles. Note that the first letter as well as included proper names are capitalized. Example: La vida de Rigoberta Menchú Tum The definite article associated with names of countries. Examples: la Argentina, la India Points of the compass. Examples: norte, sur, este, oeste In Spain and most of South America, periods and comas are reversed in numbers. In Mexico and Central America, the US system is used. Example: 1.250,30 (one thousand two hundred fifty thousand point thirty) A comma is not written before the conjunctions y and o in a series. Example: El maestro habló de la música, la literatura y la ciencia de Chile. Colons are also used after salutations. Example: Querido amigo: Semicolons are also used after a series of commas to show a longer pause. Example: Tenía dinero, casas y autos; pero no tenía amigos.

5 Page 5 of 7 Quotations Question and Exclamation Marks Closing quotation marks ( ) do not always have to come after other punctuation marks (such as commas and periods) as they do in English. If a quotation appears inside a sentence, close the quotation and then end the sentence. Example: Él nos dijo, Deben prepararse bien para el examen. Most often longer dashes ( ) are used to enclose dialogues and switch between speakers. Example: Vas con nosotros hoy? Juan le pregunta con mucha duda mientras mira su reloj. No estoy segura responde María, que valga la pena ir al centro ahora. An inverted (upside down) question mark or exclamation mark begins a question or exclamation and a regular question mark or exclamation mark concludes it. Examples: Puedes ayudarme con esto? Te dije que no! Basic Syntax Syntax is just a technical linguistic term for sentence structure or word order. It shows the relationship of the words in a sentence. Since the syntax of human languages is highly complex and a full treatment would require many volumes, this Activity is limited to presenting only the basic syntax of declarative, negative, and interrogative sentences. Declarative Sentences. The basic syntax for declarative sentences in Spanish is: Subject + Verb + Object. In Spanish, the verb is the only required element to make a complete sentence, since the subject is encoded in the verb. For example, in the sentence "Estudias" it is understood that the subject is Tú. Noun phrases. The subject (or object), which is linguistically referred to as the noun phrase, can include many elements. Not all of these elements are required nor are they all present in every noun phase. Nevertheless, if they were all present in the same noun phase, they would appear in this order: 1. definite or indefinite article, demonstrative, or possessive 2. quantifying adjective 3. qualifying adjective 4. the subject 5. quantifying or qualifying adjective 6. modifying phrase (i.e. prepositional) 7. modifying clause An example of a sentence containing one item from each of these seven elements is: Los tres primeros estudiantes mexicanos de Monterrey que sacaron una "A"

6 Page 6 of 7 Verb Phrases. The verb, which together with its auxiliary verbs is referred to as the verb phrase, can also include several different elements. Different types of verb phrases include: 1. verb 2. auxiliary verb (estar) + present participle (-ando, -iendo) 3. auxiliary verb (haber) + past participle (-ado, -ido) Three examples of these types of verb phrases are: Corro. Estoy corriendo. He corrido. Sometimes the verb phrase is accompanied by indirect or direct object pronouns. These object pronouns can be placed either before the verb(s) or after (and attached to) infinitives, present participles and affirmative commands. In the latter case, an accent is required. The order of the object pronouns when both are used in the same sentence is: indirect object pronoun + direct object pronoun Some examples of the inclusion of object pronouns in the verb phrase are: Me lo dan. AND Dénmelo. Me lo están dando. OR Están dándomelo. Me lo han dado. Negative Statements. To make a negative statement, the word "no" or some other negative word, such as "nunca," is placed at the very beginning of the verb phrase, even before the object pronouns if they precede the verb. An example of this is: No me lo han dado. Interrogatives. The syntax changes slightly when dealing with questions. There are two main types of questions: yes/no questions and content questions. For yes/no questions, the sentence structure is the following: No [optional] + Verb + Subject + Object? An example of a yes/no questions is: No quiere Juan una bicicleta nueva? For content questions, the sentence structure is the following: Interrogative + Verb + Subject?

7 Page 7 of 7 An example of a content question is: Qué quiere Juan? In summary, statements in Spanish follow the order Subject + Verb + Object. Questions follow a reverse order where the verb precedes the subject.