General Question

lilikoi's avatar

Is the emphasis on the first or second syllable of "estas" in Spanish?

Asked by lilikoi (10110points) January 22nd, 2010

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8 Answers

CyanoticWasp's avatar

In “Como estas?”, it’s on the second syllable, which should be accented.

lilikoi's avatar

How about in “Estas son casas” – these are houses? There is no accent the way it is written and it was pronounced with emphasis on first syllable, but I thought that the general rule of thumb is second unless there is an accent somewhere in the word….

CyanoticWasp's avatar

I think the word should have been “estes” ... maybe “estas”; I’m not sure. And that would correctly place the accent on the first syllable.

mollypop51797's avatar

The stress of the syllable is on the “as” in estas. You put a longer pronunciation in the last syllable, as is the main rule in most spanish words, unless there is an accent.

lilikoi's avatar

See that is what I thought… Hmm….

CyanoticWasp's avatar

@mollypop51797 & @lilikoi, no, if the question is “These are houses?” then the word “estes” = “these” (which I believe to be the correct word) is NOT “estas”, which is “you are”.

Estes son casas? is, word for word:
These are houses?

Como estas? is, word for word:
How you are?

Spanish does have words, same as English, that “look the same” but are not. Just not so many.

AstroChuck's avatar

Es-TÁS – are

ES-tas – them (fem)

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