Words with an accent on the last syllable
We call a word "aguda" when the stress is on the last syllable, for example:
Panamá (Pa-na-má)
Amor (A-mor)
Feliz (Fe-liz)
Hablarás (Ha-bla-rás)
Azafrán (A-za-frán)
Monosyllables do not have an orthographic accent unless it is necessary to distinguish it from another word that is spelled the same but means something different. For example:
mas = but
más = more
te = personal pronoun (e.g ¿Cómo te llamas?)
té = tea (e.g "Para mí, té con leche, por favor" )
Important note
In pronunciation, we often talk about "acento" and "tilde". We refer to the "acento" to say which syllable is the most stressed when pronouncing the word. However we talk about "tilde" when we refer to the "written or typed accent" on the stressed syllable.
For example:
camiseta, mesa, árbol, túnel, beso
All these words are accentuated on the penultimate syllable, but only árbol and túnel have a written accent, a "tilde" [´].
