Spanish

<p>
	Spanish vowels are either <strong>strong</strong> or <strong>weak</strong>.
	The vowels <strong>a</strong>, <strong>e</strong> and <strong>o</strong> are strong.
	The vowels <strong>u</strong> and <strong>i</strong> are weak.
	When two <strong>strong vowels</strong> appear next to each other, they form two <strong>separate syllables</strong>.
	When a vowel appears next to a <strong>weak vowel</strong>, they together form <strong>one single syllable</strong>.
	The two vowels that appear together in one syllable are called <strong>diphthongs</strong>.
</p>

<p>
	Let's look at some words with strong and weak vowels to see how they are divided in syllables.
</p>

<table class="ui celled fixed table">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>the student</td>
			<td>el es-tu-<strong>dian</strong>-te</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>the city</td>
			<td>la <strong>ciu</strong>-dad
		</td></tr>
		<tr>
			<td>the theater</td>
			<td>el <strong>te</strong>-<strong>a</strong>-tro</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>the paella</td>
			<td>la <strong>pa</strong>-<strong>e</strong>-lla</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	If we want to prevent the weak vowel from forming a single syllable, then we <strong>put an accent mark on the weak syllable</strong>, thereby breaking the diphthong.
</p>

<table class="ui celled fixed table">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>the country</td>
			<td>el <strong>pa</strong>-<strong>ís</strong></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>
	<strong>Putting an accent mark on the strong syllable</strong> within a diphthong does not break the diphthong.
</p>

<table class="ui celled fixed table">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>the relationship</td>
			<td>la re-la-<strong>ción</strong></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Diphthongs

noun

adjective

determiner

verb

adverb

preposition

interjection

conjunction

pronoun

sentence

phrase

unknown

exclamatory

invariant noun

el teatro

Usages of el teatro