Written Accent Rules
Galician uses one accent mark, ´, to show the stressed syllable when the general rules require it: café, fácil, música.
How It Works
One accent mark. Galician uses only the acute accent (´), placed on the vowel of the stressed syllable.
Stressed on the last syllable. Words of more than one syllable take an accent when they end in a vowel, a vowel + n, a vowel + s or a vowel + ns: café, alí (there), mazá (apple), tamén (also), irmán (brother), compás, cafés, parabéns (congratulations). They take none when they end in a falling diphthong, with or without -n or -s (cantou, seguiu, ademais, papeis), or in any other consonant (papel, cantar, azul).
Stressed on the next-to-last syllable. These words take an accent when they end in a consonant other than -n or -s, or in a cluster other than -ns: fácil (easy), útil (useful), móbil (mobile phone), carácter, bíceps. Otherwise they take none: casa, cantan, lapis.
Stressed earlier. These words always take an accent: música, lóxico (logical), mágoa (sorrow), número.
One-syllable words take no accent: pan, sol, xa, tres. The exceptions are the short words in Diacritic Accent.
Differences from Spanish. Adverbs in -mente take no accent (rapidamente, facilmente); see Adverbs in -mente. Final-stressed words ending in a falling diphthong + s take none (ademais; compare Spanish hacéis). Question words take none (como, onde). A stressed i or u next to another vowel takes one even where Spanish has none; see Accents in Vowel Sequences.
Examples (6)
- Tomamos un café?
Shall we have a coffee?
Word by Word: Take-we a coffee?
Café is stressed on the last syllable and ends in a vowel, so it takes an accent.
- Parabéns polo teu aniversario!
Happy birthday!
Word by Word: Congratulations for-the your birthday!
Parabéns is stressed on the last syllable and ends in -ns.
- Onte cantou moi ben.
Yesterday he sang very well.
Cantou ends in the falling diphthong ou, so it takes no accent.
- Este exercicio é fácil.
This exercise is easy.
Fácil is stressed on the next-to-last syllable and ends in l, so it needs an accent.
- Gústame moito a música galega.
I really like Galician music.
Word by Word: Pleases-me much the music Galician.
Música is stressed on the third syllable from the end, so it always takes an accent.
- Fala rapidamente.
He speaks quickly.
Adverbs in -mente take no accent in Galician.
Common Mistakes
Accenting a final falling diphthong.
Onte cantóu moi ben.Onte cantou moi ben.Final-stressed words ending in a falling diphthong such as ou, eu, iu or ei take no accent: cantou, colleu, partiu.
Keeping the accent in an adverb in -mente.
Fala rápidamente.Fala rapidamente.Galician adverbs in -mente are stressed on -men- and take no accent, unlike Spanish.
Forgetting the accent on a final-stressed word ending in -n.
O meu irman tamen vive aquí.O meu irmán tamén vive aquí.Final-stressed words ending in -n need an accent: irmán, tamén, alguén.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- Diacritic Accent
A small set of short words takes an accent for a different reason: to tell two words apart.
Level 1 - Accents in Vowel Sequences
A stressed i or u next to another vowel takes an accent even where these rules would not require one.
Level 1 - Open and Closed Vowels
The written accent marks stress; it does not show whether e or o is open.
Level 1 - -menteAdverbs in -mente
Adverbs in -mente never take an accent in Galician.
Level 3 - fóra / pór / té / présaMore Diacritic Accents
More words with diacritic accents come later.
Level 4 - Question and Exclamation Marks
Question words take no accent in Galician questions.
Level 1
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
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