Writing Spanish
Spanish writing has two marks English does not, ¿ and ¡, a few different rules for capital letters, and five accented vowels plus ñ to type. Here is all of it, and how to type every one on a computer or a phone.
¿ and ¡: questions and exclamations
Upside-down marks
¿ ... ? ¡ ... !
Open, then close.
Capital letters
Spanish uses fewer capitals than English. Names of people and places are capitalized; days, months, languages and nationalities are not.
| Lowercase in Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| lunes, martes | Monday, Tuesday |
| enero, julio | January, July |
| español, inglés | Spanish, English |
| mexicano, americana | Mexican, American |
| Capitalized, as in English | English |
|---|---|
| Ana, Pedro | names |
| México, Texas | places |
| the first word of a sentence |
Listen and read
Hoy es lunes, diez de enero.
Today is Monday, January tenth. Hablo español e inglés: I speak Spanish and English.
Typing á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ, ü, ¿ and ¡
| Device | How |
|---|---|
| Phone or tablet | Touch and hold the letter (a for á, n for ñ); touch and hold ? for ¿ and ! for ¡. Or add a Spanish keyboard, which has its own ñ key. |
| Mac | Option+e, then the vowel: á é í ó ú · Option+n, then n: ñ · Option+u, then u: ü · Option+1: ¡ · Option+Shift+?: ¿ |
| Windows, US International keyboard | Add it in Settings, Time and language. Then ' then the vowel: á · ~ then n: ñ · " then u: ü · Right Alt+1: ¡ · Right Alt+?: ¿ |
| Windows, any keyboard | Hold Alt and type on the number pad: á 0225 · é 0233 · í 0237 · ó 0243 · ú 0250 · ñ 0241 · ü 0252 · ¿ 0191 · ¡ 0161 |
Accent marks are part of the spelling, not decoration: papa is a potato, papá is dad. Type them from the first day.
Practice
Which is written correctly?
Hint
Solution
¿Cómo estás?: open with ¿, close with ?.
Which is written correctly?
Hint
Solution
Days are lowercase: El lunes es mi cumpleaños, my birthday is on Monday.
Which is written correctly?
Hint
Solution
Languages are lowercase: Hablo español, I speak Spanish.
Where does the opening ¿ go in Y tú, cómo te llamas?
Hint
Solution
The question begins at cómo: Y tú, ¿cómo te llamas?
On a Mac, how do you type é?
Hint
Solution
Option+e, then the vowel: é. The same for á, í, ó, ú.
Listen, then build the question
Where is the bathroom?
Put the words in order: Where is the bathroom?
Click the items in the correct order. Click an item in your answer to move it back.
Available itemsYour orderNext: reading aloud. You now know every letter, sound and mark; the last lesson puts them together, from syllables to your first paragraph.