14 A SPANISH REFERENCE GRAMMAR
as possible, end in a vowel or diphthong. A single consonant between vowels is, therefore, joined to the following vowel: re-ci-bi do-ce pe-sos por al-gu-nas le-gum-bres, I received twelve dollars for some vegetables. 54.
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The characters ch, 11, and rr, which are considered as single consonants, are likewise joined to the following vowel: mu-chos ni-nos co-rren tras los po-llos, many children run after the chickens. 55.
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The consonants 1 and r, when preceded by another consonant, form inseparable combinations (except in the combinations rl, sl, sr, and usually tl); el po-drd ha-blar-nos y a-rre-glar a la vez los li-bros, he will be able to talk to us and arrange the books at the same time. 56.
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All other combinations of two consonants are divided by throwing the first consonant with the preceding vowel and the second with the following vowel: es-toy con-ten-to de es-tu-diar la lec-cien, I am glad to study the lesson. 57.
(a) Theoretically, prepositional prefixes form separate syllables, but in actual practice in speech the final consonant of a prefix, when it occurs before a vowel, unites with that vowel to form a syllable: el tra-ba-jo in-o-por-tu-no es des-a-gra-da-ble, untimely work is unpleasant. 58.
ACCENTUATION OF WORDS 15
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More than two consonants are usually divided by throwing the last two with the following syllable when these consonants form one of the inseparable combinations mentioned in section 56. Otherwise only one consonant goes with the following vowel: ex-pli-ca su sor-pre-sa, he explains his surprise; cons-tru-ye tram-pas y cons-pi-ra constan-te-men-te, he lays traps and conspires constantly. 59.
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Two successive strong vowels (a, e, or o) or a strong vowel and a following accented weak vowel (i or u), are thrown into separate syllables: le-e el li-bro que ha tra-i-do en el ba-til, he is reading the boo', he has brought in the trunk. 60.
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Two successive weak vowels are placed in the same syllable, whether that syllable be stressed or not. If the syllable is stressed, the stress falls on the second of the weak vowels: gran-de es el rui-do del triun-fo en la ciu-dad, great is the noise of the triumph in the city. 61.
F. ACCENTUATION OF WORDS (acentuaciOn de palabras)
Words ending in a vowel, a diphthong, or n or s, are stressed on the penult (next to last syllable) and need no written accent: bastantes nirios hablan ruso, a good many children speak
