Spanish Accent Rules Practice

Q: What are agudas, llanas and esdrújulas?

They are the three stress classes of Spanish words. Agudas are stressed on the last syllable (café, hotel), llanas on the second-to-last (mesa, árbol), and esdrújulas on the third-to-last (música, teléfono). Which class a word belongs to — plus its final letter — decides whether it needs a written accent.

Q: When does a word need a written accent (tilde)?

Agudas take a tilde when they end in a vowel, n or s (canción, café). Llanas take one when they do NOT end in a vowel, n or s (árbol, lápiz). Esdrújulas always take one (rápido, música). Everything else is written without an accent.

Q: What is the difference between tú and tu, or sé and se?

That's the diacritical tilde: it distinguishes two words that sound identical. Tú (you) vs tu (your), él (he) vs el (the), sí (yes) vs si (if), sé (I know) vs se (pronoun), más (more) vs mas (but), mí/té/dé vs mi/te/de. The mark changes the meaning, so it's never optional.

Q: Do qué and dónde keep the accent in indirect questions?

Yes. Question and exclamation words — qué, cómo, dónde, cuándo — keep their tilde whenever they still ask something, even without question marks: No sé qué hora es, Dime dónde vives. Without the tilde, que and donde are plain connectors.

Q: Why does canción lose its accent in canciones but joven gains one in jóvenes?

Because the stressed syllable stays the same while the word gets longer. Canciones becomes a llana ending in s, which needs no tilde. Jóvenes and exámenes become esdrújulas, which always need one. The spelling adapts so the stress never moves.

Q: Are these exercises free?

Yes. All 30 exercises run right in your browser, need no signup, and give you a clear explanation after every answer.

Question 1

Quiero un ___ con leche, por favor.

Accepted Answer

café. Café is an aguda (stress on the last syllable) that ends in a vowel, so it needs a tilde. Without it, the stress rules would put the stress on ca-.

Question 2

Me encanta esta ___ de los años ochenta.

Accepted Answer

canción. Canción is an aguda ending in n, so it takes a tilde on the stressed ó. Agudas need the tilde when they end in a vowel, n or s.

Question 3

El ___ del jardín es muy alto.

Accepted Answer

árbol. Árbol is a llana (stress on the second-to-last syllable) ending in l — not a vowel, n or s — so it needs the tilde. Llanas are the mirror image of agudas.

Question 4

¿Me dejas tu ___, por favor?

Accepted Answer

lápiz. Lápiz is a llana ending in z, so it takes a tilde on the stressed lá-. Only llanas ending in a vowel, n or s go without one.

Question 5

La ___ clásica me relaja mucho.

Accepted Answer

música. Música is an esdrújula — stressed on the third-to-last syllable — and esdrújulas always carry a tilde, no exceptions.

Question 6

Mi ___ no tiene batería otra vez.

Accepted Answer

teléfono. Teléfono is stressed on -lé-, the third syllable from the end, so it's an esdrújula and must have a tilde. Every esdrújula does.

Question 7

¿___ hablas español en casa?

Accepted Answer

Tú. The subject pronoun tú (you) takes a diacritical tilde to distinguish it from tu (your). Here it's the subject of hablas, so it needs the accent.

Question 8

Me gusta mucho ___ casa nueva.

Accepted Answer

tu. Before a noun you need the possessive tu (your), with no tilde. Tú with a tilde is the subject pronoun — writing it here is the classic trap.

Question 9

___ es mi hermano mayor.

Accepted Answer

Él. Él with a tilde is the pronoun "he"; el without one is the article "the." Since this word replaces a person, it needs the diacritical tilde.

Question 10

—¿Quieres más café? —___, gracias.

Accepted Answer

Sí. Sí meaning "yes" takes a tilde. Si without one means "if" — a completely different word, which is why the mark matters.

Question 11

Este regalo es para ___.

Accepted Answer

mí. After a preposition like para, "me" becomes mí with a tilde. Mi without a tilde means "my" and always sits before a noun.

Question 12

¿Te apetece un ___ verde?

Accepted Answer

té. Té with a tilde is the drink (tea); te without one is the pronoun, as in the Te at the start of this very sentence. The tilde is the only difference on paper.

Question 13

Which word is spelled correctly?

Accepted Answer

música. Música is an esdrújula, so the tilde goes on the third-to-last syllable: mú-. Spanish never uses the grave accent (`), only the acute one.

Question 14

Which word is spelled correctly?

Accepted Answer

canción. Canción is stressed on the last syllable and ends in n, so it must carry a tilde on the ó. A Spanish word never carries two tildes.

Question 15

Hoy es un ___ perfecto para pasear.

Accepted Answer

día. In día the stressed í breaks the diphthong ia into two syllables (dí-a), and that hiatus always takes a tilde — even though the word is a llana ending in a vowel.

Question 16

España es un ___ con mucha variedad.

Accepted Answer

país. In país the stressed í splits ai into two syllables (pa-ís), so it needs a tilde to mark the hiatus. Without it, pais would read as one syllable.

Question 17

No puedo ___ nada con este ruido.

Accepted Answer

oír. Oír has a stressed í next to o, which breaks the diphthong (o-ír) and demands a tilde. The same happens in río and María.

Question 18

___ y su hermana viven en Sevilla.

Accepted Answer

María. Names follow the same rules as any word. In María the stressed í breaks the diphthong (Ma-rí-a), so the tilde is obligatory.

Question 19

Escuchamos muchas ___ en el concierto.

Accepted Answer

canciones. Canción loses its tilde in the plural: adding -es makes the stressed -cio- the second-to-last syllable, and a llana ending in s needs no tilde.

Question 20

Los ___ de hoy usan el móvil para todo.

Accepted Answer

jóvenes. Joven has no tilde, but jóvenes gains one: the plural pushes the stressed jo- to third-from-last position, making the word an esdrújula — and esdrújulas always take a tilde.

Question 21

Tenemos dos ___ esta semana.

Accepted Answer

exámenes. Examen carries no tilde, but exámenes does: in the plural the stress lands on the third-to-last syllable, turning it into an esdrújula. The trap is copying the singular spelling.

Question 22

No ___ dónde están mis llaves.

Accepted Answer

sé. Sé (I know, from saber) takes a diacritical tilde to distinguish it from the pronoun se. Note that dónde also keeps its tilde in this indirect question.

Question 23

Necesito ___ tiempo para terminar el proyecto.

Accepted Answer

más. Más meaning "more" always takes a tilde. Mas without one is a literary word for "but" — a different word entirely, so the accent is not optional.

Question 24

Espero que el médico me ___ buenas noticias.

Accepted Answer

dé. Dé is the subjunctive of dar and takes a tilde to distinguish it from the preposition de. After espero que you need the subjunctive, so plain da is wrong too.

Question 25

No entiendo ___ quieres decir.

Accepted Answer

qué. Even without question marks this is an indirect question, so qué keeps its tilde. Que without a tilde is just the connector "that" — the number-one trap in writing.

Question 26

Decidme ___ vivís ahora.

Accepted Answer

dónde. Inside an indirect question, dónde keeps its tilde: decidme dónde vivís. Donde without a tilde only works as a connector, as in la ciudad donde vivo.

Question 27

Which singular → plural pair is written correctly?

Accepted Answer

canción → canciones. Canciones is a llana ending in s, so it needs no tilde — the singular's accent disappears. Jóvenes and exámenes go the other way: the plural turns them into esdrújulas, which always take one.

Question 28

Which sentence is written correctly?

Accepted Answer

Sé que tú tienes mi té.. Three diacritical tildes in one sentence: sé (I know) vs se, tú (you) vs tu, and té (tea) vs te. Each accent separates two different words that sound alike.

Question 29

Which of these words is esdrújula (and therefore must carry a tilde)?

Accepted Answer

rápido. Rápido is stressed on rá-, the third syllable from the end, so it's an esdrújula — and every esdrújula carries a tilde. The others are aguda (canción) and llanas (árbol, ventana).

Question 30

Which sentence has an accent error?

Accepted Answer

¿Cuando vienes a mi casa?. In a direct question, cuándo must carry a tilde: ¿Cuándo vienes? Cuando without a tilde only works as a connector, as in cuando llegues, llámame.

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