acentuar

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• accentuar (pre-standardization spelling)

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.sẽ.tuˈa(ʁ)/ [a.sẽ.tʊˈa(h)], (faster pronunciation) /a.sẽˈtwa(ʁ)/ [a.sẽˈtwa(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.sẽ.tuˈa(ʁ)/ [a.sẽ.tʊˈa(h)], (faster pronunciation) /a.sẽˈtwa(ʁ)/ [a.sẽˈtwa(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /a.sẽ.tuˈa(ɾ)/ [a.sẽ.tʊˈa(ɾ)], (faster pronunciation) /a.sẽˈtwa(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /a.sẽ.tuˈa(ʁ)/ [a.sẽ.tʊˈa(χ)], (faster pronunciation) /a.sẽˈtwa(ʁ)/ [a.sẽˈtwa(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /a.sẽ.tuˈa(ɻ)/ [a.sẽ.tʊˈa(ɻ)], (faster pronunciation) /a.sẽˈtwa(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.sẽˈtwaɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.sẽˈtwaɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɐ.sẽˈtwa.ɾi/

• Hyphenation: a‧cen‧tu‧ar

Verb

acentuar (first-person singular present acentuo, first-person singular preterite acentuei, past participle acentuado)(transitive)

1. to accentuate; to stress (to pronounce with an accent or vocal stress)
2. to accentuate (to bring out distinctly; to emphasize)

   Synonyms: destacar, enfatizar

   • 1880, Maria Amalia Vaz de Carvalho, “A morte de Bertha [Bertha’s death]”, in Contos e phantasias [Short stories and fantasies]‎, 2nd edition, Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, published 1905, page 225:

     N’aquella physionomia accentuada e trigueira o sorriso era tão doce que lembrava o desabrochar de um lyrio.

     In that sharp and olive-toned semblance, the smile was so sweet that it resembled the blooming of a lily.

3. (linguistics) to accentuate (to mark with a written accent)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of acentuar (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	acentuar
Personal	acentuar	acentuares	acentuar	acentuarmos	acentuardes	acentuarem
Gerund
	acentuando
Past participle
Masculine	acentuado			acentuados
Feminine	acentuada			acentuadas
Indicative
Present	acentuo	acentuas	acentua	acentuamos	acentuais	acentuam
Imperfect	acentuava	acentuavas	acentuava	acentuávamos	acentuáveis	acentuavam
Preterite	acentuei	acentuaste	acentuou	acentuamos1, acentuámos2	acentuastes	acentuaram
Pluperfect	acentuara	acentuaras	acentuara	acentuáramos	acentuáreis	acentuaram
Future	acentuarei	acentuarás	acentuará	acentuaremos	acentuareis	acentuarão
Conditional	acentuaria	acentuarias	acentuaria	acentuaríamos	acentuaríeis	acentuariam
Subjunctive
Present	acentue	acentues	acentue	acentuemos	acentueis	acentuem
Imperfect	acentuasse	acentuasses	acentuasse	acentuássemos	acentuásseis	acentuassem
Future	acentuar	acentuares	acentuar	acentuarmos	acentuardes	acentuarem
Imperative
Affirmative		acentua	acentue	acentuemos	acentuai	acentuem
Negative (não)		não acentues	não acentue	não acentuemos	não acentueis	não acentuem

¹Brazilian Portuguese.
²European Portuguese.

Related terms

• acentuação
• acentuado

References

• “acentuar” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
• “acentuar”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2025
• “acentuar”, in Dicio – Dicionário Online de Português (in Portuguese), São Paulo: 7Graus, 2009–2025
• “acentuar”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
• “acentuar”, in Dicionário infopédia da Lingua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “acentuar”, in Dicionário inFormal (in Portuguese), 2006–2025
• “acentuar”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025, →ISBN

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin accentuāre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aθenˈtwaɾ/ [a.θẽn̪ˈt̪waɾ] (Spain)
• IPA^(key): /asenˈtwaɾ/ [a.sẽn̪ˈt̪waɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: a‧cen‧tuar

Verb

acentuar (first-person singular present acentúo, first-person singular preterite acentué, past participle acentuado)

1. (transitive) to accentuate (to pronounce with vocal stress)
   • 2015, Esther Herrera Zendejas, Tono, acentos y estructuras métricas en lenguas mexicanas., El Colegio de Mexico AC, →ISBN:

     Sin embargo, es muy notorio en esta lengua la reducción de vocales no acentuadas, muchas de las cuales desaparecen por completo, tanto en posición media como en posición final de palabra.

     However, the reduction of unstressed vowels in this language is very notorious; many of them disappear completely in the mid-word as well as the word-final position.

2. (transitive) to accentuate (to mark with a written accent)
   • 2012, Pedro Manuel Jiménez de Urrea, Cancionero, Universidad de Zaragoza →ISBN

     Acentuamos la forma tónica del pronombre nós para distinguirla de la forma átona […]

     We accentuate the tonic form of the pronoun nós to distinguish it from the atonic form […]

   Synonym: tildar

3. (transitive) to accentuate, to emphasize
   • 1995, Carlos Alberto Torres, La política de la educación no formal en América Latina, Siglo XXI, →ISBN, page 14:

     Pero aún más importante es que la distribución desigual del consumo en las sociedades condicionadas acentúa la importancia de ese símbolo.

     But even more important is that the unequal distribution of consumption in conditioned societies accentuates the importance of that symbol.

   Synonyms: destacar, enfatizar, recalcar, subrayar

Conjugation

    Conjugation of acentuar (u-ú alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			acentuar
gerund			acentuando
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		acentuado		acentuada
		plural		acentuados		acentuadas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	acentúo	acentúastú acentuásvos	acentúa	acentuamos	acentuáis	acentúan
	imperfect	acentuaba	acentuabas	acentuaba	acentuábamos	acentuabais	acentuaban
	preterite	acentué	acentuaste	acentuó	acentuamos	acentuasteis	acentuaron
	future	acentuaré	acentuarás	acentuará	acentuaremos	acentuaréis	acentuarán
	conditional	acentuaría	acentuarías	acentuaría	acentuaríamos	acentuaríais	acentuarían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	acentúe	acentúestú acentuésvos2	acentúe	acentuemos	acentuéis	acentúen
	imperfect (ra)	acentuara	acentuaras	acentuara	acentuáramos	acentuarais	acentuaran
	imperfect (se)	acentuase	acentuases	acentuase	acentuásemos	acentuaseis	acentuasen
	future1	acentuare	acentuares	acentuare	acentuáremos	acentuareis	acentuaren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		acentúatú acentuávos	acentúe	acentuemos	acentuad	acentúen
	negative		no acentúes	no acentúe	no acentuemos	no acentuéis	no acentúen

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of acentuar (u-ú alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive acentuar	dative	acentuarme	acentuarte	acentuarle, acentuarse	acentuarnos	acentuaros	acentuarles, acentuarse
	accusative	acentuarme	acentuarte	acentuarlo, acentuarla, acentuarse	acentuarnos	acentuaros	acentuarlos, acentuarlas, acentuarse
with gerund acentuando	dative	acentuándome	acentuándote	acentuándole, acentuándose	acentuándonos	acentuándoos	acentuándoles, acentuándose
	accusative	acentuándome	acentuándote	acentuándolo, acentuándola, acentuándose	acentuándonos	acentuándoos	acentuándolos, acentuándolas, acentuándose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative acentúa	dative	acentúame	acentúate	acentúale	acentúanos	not used	acentúales
	accusative	acentúame	acentúate	acentúalo, acentúala	acentúanos	not used	acentúalos, acentúalas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative acentuá	dative	acentuame	acentuate	acentuale	acentuanos	not used	acentuales
	accusative	acentuame	acentuate	acentualo, acentuala	acentuanos	not used	acentualos, acentualas
with formal second-person singular imperative acentúe	dative	acentúeme	not used	acentúele, acentúese	acentúenos	not used	acentúeles
	accusative	acentúeme	not used	acentúelo, acentúela, acentúese	acentúenos	not used	acentúelos, acentúelas
with first-person plural imperative acentuemos	dative	not used	acentuémoste	acentuémosle	acentuémonos	acentuémoos	acentuémosles
	accusative	not used	acentuémoste	acentuémoslo, acentuémosla	acentuémonos	acentuémoos	acentuémoslos, acentuémoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative acentuad	dative	acentuadme	not used	acentuadle	acentuadnos	acentuaos	acentuadles
	accusative	acentuadme	not used	acentuadlo, acentuadla	acentuadnos	acentuaos	acentuadlos, acentuadlas
with formal second-person plural imperative acentúen	dative	acentúenme	not used	acentúenle	acentúennos	not used	acentúenles, acentúense
	accusative	acentúenme	not used	acentúenlo, acentúenla	acentúennos	not used	acentúenlos, acentúenlas, acentúense

Related terms

• acento
• acentuación

Further reading

• “acentuar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025