# Where the stress falls: the two defaults

> id: pronunciation.stress-rules · category: pronunciation · depth: standard · levels: A2 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Words ending in a vowel, n, or s stress the second-to-last syllable (haBLAmos, COme); ending in other consonants, the last (haBLAR, ciuDAD). Anything else needs a written accent.

Two rules cover ~90% of words: vowel/n/s → penultimate (llana); other consonant → final (aguda). The tilde marks every exception: teléfono, café, árbol, inglés.

Misplacing stress changes words: hablo/habló, papa/papá, esta/está. Reading aloud, trust the rule absolutely — Spanish spelling never lies about stress.

Two defaults cover about 90% of words: ending in a vowel, n, or s stresses the second-to-last syllable (llana: COme, haBLAmos), and ending in any other consonant stresses the last (aguda: haBLAR, ciuDAD). Every exception carries a written accent, and stress is meaning-bearing — hablo/habló, papa/papá — so reading aloud you can trust the rule absolutely.

## Examples
- Trabajo los lunes; trabajó el lunes pasado. — I work Mondays; he worked last Monday. *(Stress = tense.)*
- El árbol está en el jardín. — The tree is in the garden.
- Hablo español, pero ayer no me habló nadie. — I speak Spanish, but yesterday nobody spoke to me.

Related: pronunciation.written-accents-basic, pronunciation.syllabification

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