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'Tú' or 'tu'? Tiny accents that change the meaning

Spanish has a handful of short words that come in pairs: same letters, same sound, different meaning. Tú means you, but tu means your. Él means he, but el means the. The only thing that tells them apart on the page is a small written accent.

English speakers often drop these accents because they seem to change nothing. The word is pronounced almost the same, and English has no marks like this. In Spanish, though, a missing accent turns one word into another. Tú tienes (you have) is correct, but tu tienes reads as your have. The same thing happens with té (tea), más (more) and aún (still).

Word list
élmA1 he él = he másA1 more más agua = more water miA1 my mi casa = my house témA1 tea un té = a tea túA1 you tú tienes = you have tuA1 your tu libro = your book aúnA2 still aún no = not yet másA2 more más difícil = more difficult másA2 plus dos más dos = two plus two aúnB1 even aún mejor = even better aunB1 even aun los expertos = even experts
How it works

Normal Spanish accent rules tell you which syllable to stress. One-syllable words usually need no accent at all, because there is only one syllable to stress. These written accents are the exception. They do not mark pronunciation. They mark which word you mean.

The pattern behind almost every pair is this: the accented word is the one that carries its own stress in the sentence. It can stand alone or take emphasis, like a pronoun, a noun or an adverb. The unaccented partner is a little helper word that leans on the next word, like an article, a possessive or an object pronoun.

  • tú (you) vs. tu (your)
  • él (he, him) vs. el (the)
  • mí (me, after a preposition) vs. mi (my)
  • té (tea) vs. te (you, to you, as an object)
  • más (more, plus) vs. mas (but, very literary)

A quick test: if the word comes right before a noun and just points to it, it probably has no accent. If you could answer a question with it on its own, it probably has one. Who did it? Él. Whose book? Tu libro.

The words
You and your, he and the

Tú is the subject pronoun. Tu sits before a noun and shows possession. Likewise, él is the pronoun he, while el is the masculine article.

Tú tienes tu libro.
(You have your book.)
Él es el profesor.
(He is the teacher.)
My and me

Mi is the possessive that goes before a noun. Its partner mí is the pronoun used after prepositions such as para, a or de.

Mi hermano dice que este regalo es para mí.
(My brother says this present is for me.)
Tea and you

Té is a noun. Te is the object pronoun that means you or to you.

¿Te preparo un té?
(Shall I make you a tea?)
More and plus

Más always takes the accent, whether it means more of something, makes a comparison or means plus in arithmetic. The unaccented mas is an old-fashioned word for but that you will only meet in literature.

¿Quieres más agua?
(Do you want more water?)
El examen fue más difícil de lo que pensaba.
(The exam was more difficult than I thought.)
Dos más dos son cuatro.
(Two plus two is four.)
Watch out
Aún and aun

This pair has two syllables but follows the same idea. Aún with an accent means still or yet, and in comparisons like even better. You can swap it for todavía. Aun without an accent means even in the sense of including something surprising. You can swap it for incluso.

Aún no he comido.
(I still haven't eaten.)
Esta versión es aún mejor.
(This version is even better.)
Aun los expertos se equivocan a veces.
(Even experts get it wrong sometimes.)
Capital letters keep the accent

At the start of a sentence you still write Él and Tú. Leaving the accent off capitals is an old habit from typewriters, not a rule.

Other famous pairs

You will soon meet sí (yes) vs. si (if), and sé (I know) vs. se (a pronoun). They work the same way.

Solo lost its accent

Older texts write sólo for only. Since 2010 the Spanish Academy recommends plain solo in every meaning, so you do not need to learn a pair here.

The typical mistake is typing tu for you in quick messages. Native speakers do it too, but in careful writing it looks like an error.

Summary

When two short Spanish words look identical, the accent goes on the one that stands on its own and carries stress: tú, él, mí, té, más, aún. The little helper words that lean on a following noun or verb, such as tu, el, mi and te, stay unaccented. If you could answer a question with the word alone, it probably needs the accent.