fóra / pór / té / présa

More Diacritic Accents

Level 4

These accents do not follow the normal stress rules. They separate two words spelled the same way: fóra (outside) vs fora (had been), pór (to put) vs por (by), té (tea) vs te (you), présa (hurry) vs presa (dam).

How It Works

The pairs

  • fóra: outside (adverb), versus fora: had been, had gone (antepretérito of ser and ir)
  • pór: to put (verb), versus por: by, for, through (preposition)
  • té: tea, versus te: you (pronoun) or the letter t
  • présa: hurry, versus presa: a dam, a handful or loot

How to choose

The rule is the same as for the more frequent pairs in diacritic accents: the accent marks the word with the open vowel, or the one that is stressed. Té has an open e and te has a closed e; pór is stressed, while por is not.

Useful phrases

  • ter présa: to be in a hurry
  • á présa: in a hurry, hastily
  • fóra de: outside of
  • pór a mesa: to set the table

Only these forms. The accent belongs to these exact words. Other forms of the verb pór do not take it (pon, puxo), and poñer is also a standard form of the same verb.

Examples (6)

  1. Os nenos están xogando fóra.

    The children are playing outside.

  2. Cando cheguei, el xa fora para a casa.

    When I arrived, he had already gone home.

    Fora without an accent is the antepretérito of ir.

  3. Axúdasme a pór a mesa?

    Will you help me set the table?

  4. Tomamos un té con limón?

    Shall we have a tea with lemon?

  5. Non teño présa, podemos ir amodo.

    I am not in a hurry; we can go slowly.

  6. Atravesamos o río pola presa.

    We crossed the river over the dam.

    Presa without an accent means a dam.

Common Mistakes

  • Leaving out the accent on the adverb fóra.

    Espérote fora.
    Espérote fóra.

    Fora without an accent is a verb form (had been, had gone). The adverb meaning outside is fóra.

  • Writing the verb pór like the preposition por.

    Teño que por a mesa.
    Teño que pór a mesa.

    The infinitive meaning to put carries an accent.

  • Writing tea without an accent.

    Queres un te?
    Queres un té?

    Te is a pronoun. The drink is té.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

fóra / pór / té / présaLevel 4More Diacritic Accents

Learn This First

Further diacritic pairs distinguish open vowels or stressed words.

Words in This Pattern

fórafórafórapórtéprésapresa