Spanish conjugation explanation
Monosyllabic verb forms

Practice conjugations

Stress marks are not used in monosyllabic verb forms (i.e. verb forms with only one syllable). The only exceptions to this rule are the verb forms where a stress mark has to be added in order to distinguish it from another common word (e.g. yo sé - I know; see Exceptions section for more).

A verb form can have multiple vowels and still be monosyllabic: when a weak vowel (i or u) combines with another vowel, they form a diphthong (=double vowel) and are part of the same syllable (e.g. él vio - he saw). However, when a weak vowel has a stress mark on it, it becomes a strong vowel and it won't form a diphthong with another strong vowel (e.g. yo oí - I heard).

Here is a list of the most common verb forms affected by this rule:

<ul>

<li>vosotros sois (ser, Present)</li>

<li>vosotros vais (ir, Present)</li>

<li>vosotros dais (dar, Present)</li>

<li>vosotros veis (ver, Present)</li>

<li>yo fui (ser, Preterite)</li>

<li>él fue (ser, Preterite)</li>

<li>yo fui (ir, Preterite)</li>

<li>él fue (ir, Preterite)</li>

<li>yo di (dar, Preterite)</li>

<li>él dio (dar, Preterite)</li>

<li>yo vi (ver, Preterite)</li>

<li>él vio (ver, Preterite)</li>

<li>yo he (haber, Preterite)</li>

<li>él rio (reír, Preterite)</li>

</ul>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Exceptions</div>

When a verb form can be confused with another common word, the verb form gets an acute accent to avoid confusion. Here is a list of the verb forms affected and the source of the potential confusion:

<ul>

<li>(yo) sé (saber, Present) and se (reflexive pronoun)</li>

<li>(tú) sé (ser, Imperative) and se (reflexive pronoun)</li>

<li>(que yo) dé (dar, Present Subjunctive) and de (preposition)</li>

<li>(que él) dé (dar, Present Subjunctive) and de (preposition)</li>

<li>(usted) dé (dar, Imperative) and de (preposition)</li>

</ul>

<div class="conjugation_explanation_title">Verb forms with one or two syllables</div>

There are verb forms that can also be written with the accent mark by writers who pronounce these forms as bisyllabic:

<ul>

<li>yo lie or yo lié (liar, Preterite)</li>

<li>él lio or él lió (liar, Preterite)</li>

<li>yo fie or yo fié (fiar, Preterite)</li>

<li>él fio or él fió (fiar, Preterite)</li>

<li>yo crie or yo crié (criar, Preterite)</li>

<li>él crio or él crió (criar, Preterite)</li>

</ul>

Spanish conjugation explanation Monosyllabic verb forms

Spanish conjugation explanation
Monosyllabic verb forms