How important are accents in written Spanish?

Question

English

I notice that native Spanish speakers often leave off accents in writing. Outside the context of edited material, it almost seems like accent pedantry is the sign of someone who has learned Spanish as a second language or has their spell-checker properly configured.

Do native Spanish speakers appreciate properly-placed accents in writing or does it not matter much? (Which is to say, should I spend my time looking up accents or am I wasting my time?)

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Español

Me doy cuenta de que los hablantes nativos de español a menudo se dejan los acentos al escribir. Fuera del contexto de material editado, casi parece que la pedantería para poner acentos es el signo de uno que ha aprendido español como segundo idioma o tiene su corrector ortográfico configurado correctamente.

¿Aprecian los hablantes nativos de español los acentos correctamente colocados al escribir o no importa mucho? (Quiero decir, ¿debería emplear tiempo buscando acentos o estoy perdiendo el tiempo?

Answer 1

Accents are important anywhere you want to use formal language, look professional, etc. Places where using "correct" Spanish is important. Writing an article for publication, a letter to a superior, in exams.

Despite what other people say in their answers, leaving out accents doesn't result in sore eyes, confused readers, hard to read text. If you're writing to somebody who you know likes everything proper you should expect this to irritate them. Generally people that don't like slang also won't like omitted accents.

I would compare it exactly to writing English in all lower case and omitting apostrophes.

Almost all of my friends from Spanish speaking countries never use accents when writing on the Internet, in emails, Facebook, instant messaging, SMS.

It's a matter of style. When you want to be formal, stick to the official orthography, with all the accents, punctuation, and capitalization used as the RAE advises. If you don't you will be interpreted as at least lazy and unprofessional, but perhaps worse.

If you are a young person chatting via keyboard to other young people, you don't have to be formal, just like in English. Your friends might even find it a bit stilted if you're too formal.

In fact in instant messaging and SMS I find my Spanish speaking friends go much further and use lots of special slang spellings I don't know at all - just like people do in English.

It's probably a good idea to be consistent though. It will be less pleasant for some people to read if you phase in and out of accent usage in a single piece of writing. In this case it will seem a lot more like spelling mistakes like mixing up "to" and "too" or "their" and "there" and "they're" in English. Context will show which word you mean but your wrong spellings will throw the reader off.

I do note however that when Spanish is written in all capitals that the accents will fairly often be omitted even in places where you might expect more formality and even though the RAE says the accents should always be used even in all capitals.

In short: You might make a faux pas if you leave them out, but you'll never make a faux pas if you put them in. ^{Other than the cool kids sometimes thinking you're not cool (-;}

Answer 2

In my opinion, the accents are very important to ease the readability of your text. Since Spanish is an inflectional language, we make from a single root many words (e.g. verbal conjugation) whose only difference is the syllable having the stress:

El camino → (the road)
Él caminó → (he walked)
Yo camino → (I walk)

Also, another example being we have the diacritic accent (éste vs este):

Toda la culpa la tiene éste.
Toda la culpa la tiene este hombre.

Answer 3

You should absolutely use them - it's not a matter of pedantry. Otherwise you'll be forcing people to correct intonation in their minds - making any lengthy enough text a headache.

Answer 4

Accents are essential when there is a possibility of confusion.

The Real Academia Española recognizes that there are occasions when accents may be omitted. The words éste or aquél, for example, don't require an accent when there is no risk of confusing the word with the adjective.

By comparison, o should have an accent when it comes between numerals, in order to help distinguish it from the number zero: 5 ó 6. (Note: this "rule" very recently changed so that o does not require the accent.)

My general rule: they are often not required, but always a good idea.

Answer 5

You definitely should. An accent can really make a difference when trying to understand a text. We, native speakers, can usually fully understand something without any accent, but it's much easier to read with them.

Also, to write spanish as the RAE says, you have to use them.

Answer 6

Imagine you are writing about this situation:

There are some guys hitting another one, while others are looking at it. You see it from far away and shout:

¡Animales!

Meaning "beasts", for doing what they are doing.

Imagine you add an accent to the word and write:

¡Anímales!

Meaning "encourage them"!

The exact same little word will mean something completely different just because of an accent.

We could think on many other examples with fábrica / fabrica (fabricar), máquina / maquina (maquinar), etc.

Answer 7

Although it is possible to understand a text without accents, it would hurt your eyes.

In addition to this, some words change their meaning if you miss one accent (más/mas, él/el, té/te...).

Answer 8

To a true Mexican, a properly placed accent shows respect for the purity of the written language as the accent is most often used in proper names and I am sure that you yourself would not much appreciate a mispronunciation of your name. For example, the letter "i" in my name is not dotted, it carries an accent over the i and I always make use of the accent when using my signature. In English, a 3 syllable word usually carries the accent over the first syllable, but in Mexican Spanish, the accent is usually over the 2nd syllable in a 3 syllable name and over the 1st in a 2 syllable name. So YES, it is a way of showing respect for one's heritage and is extremely important for a purist of the correct pronunciation of one's name.

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My name in the spelling and culture of Mexico is García. Here on the Tex/Mex border we are proud of our heritage and continue to speak Mexican Spanish fluently on a daily basis throughout the Rio Grande Valley.

Answer 9

Yes. A lot of people appreciate it. Sometimes, if writing a quick message or SMS they are left off. There is not accent pedantry, most times they are useful and help the reader to go through your text faster.

Answer 10

As a native speaker, I would say you should try to write them everywhere, unless you are in a particular situation when writing with perfect orthography is difficult or impossible (e.g., writing an urgent SMS). In general, many Spanish native speakers find it annoying to read Spanish texts without correct accent marks.

Answer 11

Definamos una "isografía" (1) como dos palabras o grupo de palabras o parte de palabras que se escriben igual, salvo por algún acento, pero cuyo significado es distinto y a veces incluso opuesto.

Aunque el español es una lengua muy viva y muy rica en palabras, lo cierto es que también nos faltan algunas. Aquí van unos ejemplos:

como = comme, en francés = like, en inglés

cómo = comment, en francés = how, en inglés

que = que, en francés = that, en inglés

qué = quel/quelle, qu´est-ce-que, en francés = what , en inglés

si = si, en francés = if, en inglés

sí = oui, en francés = yes , en inglés

se = on, en francés = we , en inglés

sé = je sais, en francés = i know, en inglés

Hay muchos más ejemplos y en todos los casos, tanto en el inglés, como en el francés existen en esas dos bellas lenguas dos palabras distintas pero una sola en español, distinguibles sólo por llevar acento o no llevarlo.

(1): Puede ser un neologismo, pero no me importa. Hay que saber crear neologismos si estos son lógicos, fundamentados y a la vez equilibrados y que no desentonen.

Answer 12

It's not thaaaat important, people would still understand what you're trying to write if you miss some accents.

However, if you miss one, it will look like a stain in the paper.

Of course there are some words that DO NEED the accent because it changes the complete meaning of the word.. like "mas" and "más" or "él" and "el"

Answer 13

It depends on the setting.

I agree with you that often, taking a lot of care with spelling and accents can make a foreigner stick out like a sore thumb. I for one have found myself in that situation. But I was already pretty noticeable to begin with; and writing with careful spelling and accents never brought any negative repercussions. If I had slummed and written more sloppily, it wouldn't have made any difference on my ability to integrate into the local community.

That said, there are settings where careful spelling and properly placed accents are important and much appreciated, and this site falls into that category.

I would recommend to all Spanish learners that they develop good spelling and accenting habits right from the start, and continue in this way. I would recommend that to any child or teenager who is a native speaker as well; but for someone learning Spanish as a second language, it's especially worthwhile, for several reasons:

• Your writing will be better understood and more influential/more entertaining
• It will help you understand and appreciate better the language, including relationships among words, meanings, grammar, etymology. In short, it will help you build your knowledge of the language and your respect for and attachment to the language and the people who speak it.
• It will thus help you progress better in your learning.
• It will help you pronounce Spanish correctly and beautifully, which will help you communicate succesfully, and connect with people better.
• You will be showing respect for another group's language and culture.
• It will speed some realizations that will help you understand English better, too.

That is not to say that if you forget some accents or place some in funny places, you'll be despised! I'm just saying that your spelling efforts will bring you extra respect (i.e. brownie points).

In short, I definitely don't see learning to place accents correctly as a waste of time.

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Update 10/2/19: It may be easier to learn to write accents correctly if you install a Spanish spellchecker in your word processor and your browser.