Spelling Flashcards
Spelling changes in the present tense 1
verbs ending in -ncer or -rcer change c to z before the -o ending
convencer - convnezo : to convince
ejercer - ejerzo : exercise, to practice as
vencer - venzo : to win
Spelling changes in the present tense 2
verbs ending in -rcir change c to z before the -o ending
zurcir - zurzo : to mend
Spelling changes in the present tense 3
verbs ending in -ger change g to j before the -o ending
coger - cojo : to catch, grab
encoger - encojo : to shrink
escoger - escojo : to choose
Spelling changes in the present tense 4
verbs ending in -gir change g to j before the -o ending
dirigir - dirijo : to direct
exigir - exijo : to demand, require
fingir - finjo : to pretend
Spelling changes in the present tense 5
verbs ending in -guir change gu to g before the -o ending
distinguir - distingo : to distinguish
extinguir - extingo : to extinguish
The double consonant cc can only come before i and e.
How to pronounce cc : cc sounds a lot like x in taxi
la dirección
the address
el accesorio
the accessory
la corrección
the correction
How to pronounce gu
With gue and gui the u is silent.
It sounds like g in guitar
la guirnalda : the garland
la guerra : the war
Before a and o the u in gu is pronounced
el agua : the water
antiguo : old
The pronunciation of d
If a d comes at the beginning of a word then it is pronounced in the same way as an English d.
¡Dámelo, por favor! : Give it to me, please!
Su nombre es Daniel Díaz. : His name is Daniel Díaz.
But in normal, faster conversation if the preceding word ends in a vowel then the d is softer.
La cartera es de David. : The wallet is David’s.
If the consonant l or n comes before the d then it is especially clearly pronounced.
Quiero una minifalda más grande. : I want a bigger miniskirt.
d between vowels and at the end of a word
If d comes between two vowels then it sounds more like a th in father.
No hay nada. : There’s nothing.
¡Qué vida! : What a life!
This is also the same pronunciation as when the d is at the end of a word.
¡Qué hermosa ciudad! : What a beautiful city!
¡Venid aquí, niños! : Come here, children!
How to form an adverb
To form an adverb, add -mente to adjectives that end with an -e or a consonant.
Frecuentemente voy a nadar. : I go swimming frequently.
Me duermo fácilmente. : I fall asleep easily.
For adjectives that end in -o/-a, -mente is added to the end of the feminine form.
El va a volver seguramente. : He is surely going to return.
Me fui rápidamente. : I left (lit. went) quickly.
Exception: The adjectives rápido and lento can be used as adverbs without adding the -mente ending, e.g. Yo nado lento, tú nadas rápido. (I swim slow, you swim fast.)
accents in Spanish words
Accent marks in Spanish, á, é, í, ó, ú may seem insignificant, but they represent an important way to show how words are pronounced. Accents point out emphasis. Each word in Spanish contains an accent, a syllable that is stressed, but these don’t always have to be marked with an accent mark. The rules on why and where to place accents can be difficult to understand for non-native speakers.
*If the word ends with s or n or any of the 5 vowels, a, e, I, o, u, then the accent is placed on the second to the last syllable of the word. The accent does not need to be marked. Most Spanish words fall into this category.
Examples: me-sa, za-pa-tos, pa-dre.
*With words that do not end in s, n, or a vowel, and which do not contain an accent mark, the stress is accented on the last syllable of the word. This does not need to be marked either.
Examples: co-mer, pa-pel, or-de-na-dor
*If the stress of the word is placed anywhere besides the places in situations explained in the above rules, the accent mark is written to show readers the syllable on which to pronounce the stress of the word. Examples: di-fí-cil, ár-bol (both words en in I, and would usually be in the second category, with the stress on the last syllable. However since these are exceptions, we need to write an accent mark to show where the stress is placed)
This includes words that are stressed on the second to the last syllable, or the one before that, which is common with compound words.
Examples: dí-me-lo (an imperative + pronouns) du-chán-do se-(gerund + reflexive pronoun), fan-tás-ti-co.
Foreign language words used in Spanish may present some exceptions to these rules.
There are also other special cases for the use of accent marks (or tildes):
*In some situations, accents are not really used for pronunciation. Their function is to differentiate words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, such as:
Tu (possessive) tú (subject) si (conditional) sí (confirmation)
These words are pronounced the same, but the accent helps avoid misunderstandings in written texts. These accents are called diacritical marks.
*Vowels can be divided into hard (A,E and O) and weak vowels (I and U). When we join a weak and a hard vowel, or two weak vowels, they create the sound of one syllable, called a diphthong. When we join a hard vowel with a weak one, the stress falls on the hard vowel.
With two weak vowels joined together, the stress falls on the second vowel. When words don’t follow these rules, the accent must be written, for example: río, vía.
Another point to remember is that singular and plural forms of nouns are spelled differently, causing words to gain or lose their accent marks accordingly. The same situation occurs when adjectives change from masculine to feminine. Examples: can-ción / canciones, ingles / inglesa.
The ñ is a letter from the Spanish alphabet, but sometimes it can also be considered an accent. The mark above the n means that the letter must be pronounced nya, like español (pronounced espanyol).
How to type Spanish accents on a keyboard.
Accents in Spanish are an important part of spelling, so make sure you remember to use them. These are the codes you will need to use to write with accents on a non-Spanish keyboard. Just hold down the Alt key and write the number code using the number keys:
Á Alt + 0193 á Alt + 0225
É Alt + 0201 é Alt + 0233
Í Alt + 0205 í Alt + 0237
Ó Alt + 0211 ó Alt + 0243
Ú Alt + 0218 ú Alt + 0250
Ñ Alt + 0209 ñ Alt + 0241
cálculo : calculation
calculo : I calculate
calculó : he calculated
Accent placement
An accent is placed over words that end with an -n, -s or a vowel and have their emphasis on the last syllable.
francés
el café
el cartón (words on -ón almost always take an accent)
Words that end in a consonant other than -n or -s have an accent over the second to last syllable.
el fútbol
el lápiz
el azúcar
Words without an accent
You don’t need an accent over words that are exceptions to the other rules:
Words that end with -n, -s or a vowel don’t need an accent when the emphasis is on the penultimate syllable.
When a word ends with a consonant (besides -n and -s) and has an emphasis on the last syllable, no accent is needed.
la crisis : the crisis
el caracol : the snail
el parque : the park
Words that have the emphasis on the third to last syllable always carry an accent.
‘c’ en ‘g’ spelling regels
ca, co, cu : ‘k’ sound
ce, ci : ‘s’ sound, (‘th’ sound in Spanje)
dus ‘qu’ gebruiken
queso, quizas
ga, go, go : ‘gue’ sound, b.v. : gato
ge, gi : ‘gh’ sound, b.v. : gerasol
dus ‘gu’ gebruiken
guerra, guitarra
seguir
sigo seguimos
sigues seguís
sigue siguen
stem-changing verbs
e to ie
tener tengo
venir vengo
preferir
querer
entender
comenzar
empezar
cerrar
pensar
perder
recomendar
sentar
sentir
tender
mentir mintiendo
despertar
regar
encender
extender
sugerir sugiriendo
convertir convirtiendo
herir hiriendo
referir refiriendo
atravesar
ascender
defender
descender
advertir
divertir
conversar
despertar
fregar
gobernar
negar
encerrar
presentir
hervir
temblar
arrendar
stem-changing verbs
o to ue
almorzar
dormir durmiendo
encontrar
mostrar
poder
soler (+Inf)
aprobar
recordar
contar
costar
acordar(se)
doler
volver
devolver
llover
volar
morir muriendo
acostar
mover
soltar
oler
soñar
sonar
colgar
demonstrar
conmover
morder
recordar
resolver
revolver
