Spanish conjugation explanation

Estar stress marks

<p><strong>Some forms of</strong> the verb <strong><span style="font-style: italic;">estar</span> are modified</strong> in order <strong>to avoid confusion</strong> with demonstrative pronouns <span style="font-style: italic;">esta</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">este</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">estes</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">estas</span>. The affected verb forms are highlighted in the following conjugation tables:</p>

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<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/14/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Presente</a>

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<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

yo

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">estoy<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

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<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

tú

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">estás<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

él

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">está<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

nosotros

</span>estamos

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

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<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

vosotros

</span>estáis

</span>

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<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

ellos

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">están<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

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<div class="study_conjugations_tense_container">

<a class="study_conjugations_tense_label box_label" href="/study/tenseGuideForTense/19/" target="_blank" title="Open tense guide">Presente subjuntivo</a>

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<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

yo

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">esté<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

tú

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">estés<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

él

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">esté<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

nosotros

</span>estemos

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

vosotros

</span>estéis

</span>

</div>

</div>

<div class="study_conjugations_forms conjugation_forms highlighted_conjugation">

<div class="conjugation_form">

<span><span class="study_conjugations_pronoun conjugation_pronoun">

ellos

</span><span class="irregular_conjugation" title="irregular conjugation">estén<span class="irregularity_circle">&#9679;</span></span></span>

</div>

</div>

</div>

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<p>Without the stress mark, the stress would fall on the first syllable in each of these verb forms. The modification makes the pronunciation consistent with other forms in these tenses (the stress falls on the second syllable in all of them). </p>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Where does the stress fall in Spanish words?</div>

<p>A syllable is always stressed if its vowel has an acute accent (´) over it. For all other words, the stressed syllable is determined by the last letter of the word:</p>

<ul>

<li>If the word ends in a <strong>vowel, <span style="font-style: italic;">-s</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">-n</span></strong>, the stress is on the <strong>second to last syllable</strong>.</li>

<li>If the word ends in a <strong>consonant other than <span style="font-style: italic;">-s</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">-n</span></strong>, the stress is on the <strong>last syllable</strong>.</li>

</ul>

<p>Based on these rules, the verb forms <strong>estoy, estamos, estáis, estemos, estéis</strong> already have the stress on the second syllable, so they don't require any modification.</p>