Grave Accent Marks In Spanish

Antimooner K. T.   Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:05 am GMT
How common is it to see grave accent marks in Spanish? Usually I see acute marks...
K. T.   Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:11 am GMT
é=acute accent

è=grave accent

I read something written by a Spanish person and I noticed some grave accents (in Spanish).
SOMD   Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:30 am GMT
There are no <è> accent marks in Spanish, only <é> ones.
Harman   Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:27 am GMT
That's right SOMD.

In fact you have 3 different names depending mark position.

grave : if mark is placed in the first syllable, like (acción = action)
aguda : if mark is placed in the second syllable.
esdrujula: if mark is placed in the third syllable, like (brújula= compass)

Another false friend i have discovered....

Actually <> Actualmente in fact it's en realidad
Punch   Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:47 am GMT
<<In fact you have 3 different names depending mark position. >>


What about a world like "dándonoslo" or "rápidamente"?
Franco   Mon Dec 21, 2009 8:18 am GMT
What about a world like "dándonoslo" or "rápidamente"?

Sobreesdrújula
Induciomaro   Mon Dec 21, 2009 10:51 am GMT
"Rápidamente":
Don't forget there is an exception, by which every adverb ending in -mente follows the rule of the word without that ending. Therefore, "buenamente" has no accent mark (like "buena"), while "cortésmente" does (like "cortés"), etc. They are also pronounced like this: "buénaménte", "cortésménte", with stress on both syllables.

<<I read something written by a Spanish person and I noticed some grave accents (in Spanish).>>
Some Catalan speakers confuse both accents in Castilian Spanish.
blanche   Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:17 am GMT
Italian and CAtalan distinguish è and é but Spanish just has é
Franco   Mon Dec 21, 2009 11:20 am GMT
Italian é does not mean the same than Spanish é.
Kesington Palace   Mon Dec 21, 2009 3:33 pm GMT
Spanish had é, è and â until 18th century but with no rules when to use which, so è and â were abolished.
joolsey   Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:49 pm GMT
<<How common is it to see grave accent marks in Spanish? Usually I see acute marks..>>


They could simply be living abroad and using an English-patterned keyboard, where the only immediate accent mark to hand is the grave.
Antimooner K. T.   Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:16 pm GMT
I put the actual marks because I didn't mean the aguda, etc. The person put grave marks on some words. Since the person is from Spain I wondered if

a. A French keyboard was being used
b. there are some words that Spaniards note with grave accents

Thanks for the comments. The person was probably switching between French and Spanish.
Antimooner K. T.   Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:19 pm GMT
"Some Catalan speakers confuse both accents in Castilian Spanish."

I wondered about this as well, but the person doesn't speak Catalan afaik.
K. T.   Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:20 pm GMT
"Spanish had é, è and â until 18th century but with no rules when to use which, so è and â were abolished"

Interesting.
Curious   Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:43 pm GMT
Why did Spanish have é and è if It does not distinguish anymore between open and closed e? What did a^ mean in Spanish?