In a previous post I shared with you the 4 elements that make for what we call an accent. Today I would like to go back to word stress and resume from there.
All words, even when they don’t take an accent mark, carry stress in one syllable. Take a look at this list of words. Notice the syllable in bold.
- certezas
- ausencia
- reconoció
- fiscal
- ante
- respuesta
- periodista
- pregunta
“Ante la pregunta del periodista, el fiscal reconoció la ausencia de certezas.”
So far so good? Great. Let’s go with another, a bit more twisted, example:
“Ante la pregunta del periodista, el fiscal, claramente incómodado por la pregunta, reconoció la ausencia de certezas y manifestó que la investigación recién comienza.”
This sentence above supplies us with the following groups of meaning:
Under what circumstance – ante la pregunta del periodista
Who – el fiscal
How did he look – claramente incomodado
Why – por la pregunta
What he did – reconoció la ausencia de certezas y manifestó
What he stated – que la investigación recién comienza
We have 5 chunks now:
Antelapreguntadelperiodista, elfiscal, claramenteincomodado, reconociólausenciadecertezasymanifestó quelainvestigaciónreciéncomienza.
Too much too soon? Try and read the resulting sentence observing the stressed syllable and with a falling intonation after each chunk:
Antelapreguntadelperiodista ↓, elfiscal↓, claramenteincomodado↓, reconociólausenciadecertezas↓ ymanifestó↓ quelainvestigación↓reciéncomienza↓.
It’s very important to keep this concept in mind and exercise in this way every time you read something.
Anyway, let me know if I can be of help in any way. I’ll be happy to hear from you!
Happy Spanish learning!
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- Memory, Ear, IntuitionThis article breaks down how ear, memory and intuition make for a killer combo in language learning.
- Phrasal Verbs in RPSHave you been crafting your own list of phrasal verbs in Spanish? This is the ultimate resource to extend it and take your understanding even further.