The written accent on forms like dímelo, cómelo, levántate isn't decorative — it carries grammatical information. Once you attach a pronoun to an affirmative imperative, Spanish's default stress rule would, in many cases, push the stress to a different syllable than where it actually falls in speech. The accent is there to force the reader to put the stress in the right place. This page explains the rule, when accents are needed, when they aren't, and the common cases where learners get them wrong.
The rule in one sentence
When you attach one or more pronouns to an affirmative imperative, write an accent on the original stressed syllable of the verb if the default Spanish stress rule no longer places stress there on its own.
That sentence is dense, so let's unpack it.
The two stress rules you need
Spanish has two automatic stress rules that apply when a word has no written accent:
- Words ending in a vowel, -n or -s → stress falls on the second-to-last syllable (paroxytone).
- Words ending in any other consonant → stress falls on the last syllable (oxytone).
Anything that deviates from these two rules needs a written accent.
Now apply this to habla (speak — tú imperative):
- habla ends in -a (vowel) → stress on the second-to-last syllable → *ha-bla*. The default rule gets it right; no accent needed.
Attach the pronoun me:
- háblame ends in -e (vowel) → default rule would stress the second-to-last syllable → ha-*bla-me. But the spoken stress is still on *ha, not on bla. To force the reader to stress ha, an accent is added: háblame.
Attach another pronoun:
- háblamelo ends in -o (vowel) → default rule would stress me (hablamelo). But the spoken stress is still on ha. So the accent is even more obviously needed: háblamelo.
The accent never moves in this process. It marks the verb's original stressed syllable, regardless of how many clitics follow.
A worked walkthrough across persons
| Imperative |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| habla (2 syll.) | háblame (3, accent) | háblamelo (4, accent) |
| come (2 syll.) | cómelo (3, accent) | cómetelo (4, accent) |
| escribe (3 syll.) | escríbeme (4, accent) | escríbemelo (5, accent) |
| levanta (3 syll.) | levántate (4, accent) | levántatelo (5, accent) |
| diga (formal, 2 syll.) | dígame (3, accent) | dígamelo (4, accent) |
| siente (formal, 2 syll.) | siéntese (3, accent) | siéntesela (4, accent) |
Cómelo antes de que se enfríe.
Eat it before it gets cold.
Escríbeme cuando llegues.
Write me when you arrive.
Dígame su dirección, por favor.
Tell me your address, please.
In every row above, the accent is obligatory, not optional.
Monosyllabic imperatives: usually no accent with one pronoun
A short list of tú imperatives are monosyllables: di, da, ve, ten, sé, ven, haz, pon, sal. When a single pronoun attaches to one of these, the resulting two-syllable word is already stressed on the second-to-last syllable by default, so no accent is needed.
Dime qué pasó.
Tell me what happened.
Dame un momento, por favor.
Give me a moment, please.
Ponte el abrigo, que hace frío.
Put your coat on, it's cold.
| Imperative |
| Accent? |
|---|---|---|
| di | dime | no |
| da | dame | no |
| ve | vete | no |
| ten | tenme | no |
| pon | ponte | no |
| sal | salte | no |
| haz | hazlo | no |
Add a second pronoun, however, and the word now has three syllables. The default rule would stress the middle one, but the spoken stress is still on the first. An accent becomes obligatory:
Dímelo otra vez.
Tell me again.
Dámelo cuando puedas.
Give it to me when you can.
Póntelo ya, anda.
Put it on already, come on.
So the practical rule for monosyllables is: one clitic, no accent; two clitics, accent.
The form dale, dile, dame without an accent looks the same as the imperative + clitic. Don't confuse it with the noun dale (which doesn't exist) or with the conjugated form dalé (which also doesn't exist). The unaccented forms are correct in writing.
The vosotros commands and their quirks
The Peninsular vosotros imperative ends in -d: hablad, comed, escribid. With pronouns attached:
- Hablad
- me = habladme — ends in -e but the verb hablad itself ends in -d (consonant), so the underlying stress is already on the last syllable of hablad. After adding me, the new word habladme ends in -e (vowel) and the default rule predicts stress on blad — which is the right syllable. No accent needed.
Habladme con sinceridad.
Speak to me sincerely. (to several people)
Decidme la verdad ahora.
Tell me the truth now.
- Decid
- me
- lo = decídmelo — now four syllables, with the original stress on cid. The default rule would stress me (decidmelo), so an accent is needed: decídmelo.
- me
Decídmelo cuanto antes.
Tell me as soon as possible.
The other vosotros quirk is the dropped -d before reflexive os: levantad + os = levantaos. After the drop, levantaos ends in -s and the default rule stresses the second-to-last syllable → levantaos. That's the right place, so no accent is needed. Same with sentaos, callaos, poneos.
Sentaos donde queráis.
Sit wherever you like.
Poneos cómodos, que ya casi está la cena.
Make yourselves comfortable, dinner's almost ready.
But once you add another pronoun, the rule kicks back in:
Ponéoslo todo antes de salir.
Put it all on before leaving.
Ponéoslo needs the accent because the default rule would stress os instead of ne.
Why this matters more than learners think
In handwriting and casual messaging, many native speakers drop accents. You will see dimelo, hablame, escribeme on WhatsApp and social media. That doesn't make it correct — it makes it informal. In any written context that matters (school, work, journalism, applications, exams), the accents are obligatory. Spanish spelling treats omitted accents as ordinary spelling mistakes, not as stylistic shortcuts.
For a learner, there is an additional reason: the accent also tells you, when reading, where to put the stress. If you skip the accent, you lose the cue, and your pronunciation drifts. Native readers automatically reconstruct the stress; learners can't yet.
A quick decision flow
- Is the verb a monosyllable (di, da, ve, ten, sé, ven, haz, pon, sal)?
- With one clitic → no accent (dime, dame, ponte).
- With two clitics → accent on the verb syllable (dímelo, dámelo, póntelo).
- Is the verb two or more syllables?
- With any clitic attached → accent on the verb's original stressed syllable (háblame, cómelo, escríbeme, levántate).
- Special case: vosotros reflexive forms like sentaos, levantaos, poneos keep no accent because the default stress rule already lands on the right syllable. Add a second pronoun and the accent returns (ponéoslo).
Common Mistakes
❌ Hablame más despacio.
Incorrect — háblame needs an accent to keep the stress on ha-.
✅ Háblame más despacio.
Speak to me more slowly.
❌ Dimelo otra vez.
Incorrect — two clitics on a monosyllable forces an accent.
✅ Dímelo otra vez.
Tell me again.
❌ Cometelo ya.
Incorrect — the accent on the original stressed syllable is obligatory once a clitic is attached.
✅ Cómetelo ya.
Eat it up now.
❌ Pónte el abrigo.
Incorrect — ponte is a paroxytone ending in a vowel; no accent is needed with just one clitic.
✅ Ponte el abrigo.
Put your coat on.
❌ Sentáos donde queráis.
Incorrect — sentaos doesn't need an accent; the default rule already stresses the right syllable.
✅ Sentaos donde queráis.
Sit wherever you like.
Key takeaways
- The accent on háblame, cómelo, dímelo exists to preserve the verb's original stressed syllable against Spanish's automatic stress rules.
- For verbs of two or more syllables, expect an accent the moment you attach any clitic.
- For monosyllabic imperatives, one clitic doesn't need an accent; two do.
- Vosotros reflexive forms (sentaos, poneos) don't need an accent on their own — but adding another clitic (ponéoslo) brings the accent back.
- Skipping the accent in writing is a spelling error, not a stylistic choice — even though native speakers often drop accents in casual messaging.
Now practice Spanish
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Spanish→Related Topics
- Pronombres con el imperativo afirmativoA2 — In affirmative commands, object and reflexive pronouns attach to the end of the verb to form a single written word — dímelo, levántate, ponéoslo.
- Pronombres con el imperativo negativoA2 — In negative commands, pronouns detach from the verb and move in front of it as separate words — no me lo digas, no te levantes, no os preocupéis.
- Imperativo: visión generalA2 — The master map of the Spanish imperative — affirmative and negative commands for tú, vosotros, usted, ustedes and nosotros — with the peninsular vosotros form as its headline feature.
- Reglas de acentuaciónA1 — Spanish stress is predictable from spelling: words ending in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the second-to-last syllable; words ending in any other consonant are stressed on the last. Exceptions are marked with a written accent. Three pattern names cover every word: aguda, llana, esdrújula.
- Tildes: cuándo y por quéA2 — The Spanish written accent — the tilde — does three jobs: mark non-default stress, distinguish homophones (el/él, tu/tú, si/sí), and mark interrogative pronouns. Covers the post-2010 RAE reforms that abolished the accent on demonstrative pronouns and on sólo.