What a Difference an Accent Makes Quiz

Answer: A record store

The sentence in the question, translated into English, is "He chooses the LP".

"El" is the masculine definite object in Spanish - that is, a form of "the", while "él" translates to "he". They are pronounced the same, so the accent mark is used in writing to distinguish between these two very common words. When it comes to speech, you have to rely on context.

Both "él" and "el" are ultimately derived from the same Latin root, the demonstrative "ille".

Answer: And if she says yes?

"Sí" (with an accent) comes from the Latin word "sic" and means "yes" in Spanish as well as related languages including Catalan and Asturian.

"Si" (without an accent) means "if". It is derived from a different Latin word (also "sī", also meaning "if").

¿Claro, sí?

Answer: Can I offer you a cup of tea?

"Te" is the indirect object form of "tú" (you). Attached to a verb it can mean "to you", "for you" or "from you". Both words are direct migrations from Latin, and so unsurprisingly "te" has equivalents in Italian, Portuguese, French, Romanian and other Romance languages.

"Té", for a change, is not originally Latin. Just like the English "tea", it was introduced to European languages via Dutch ("thee"), when the Dutch East Indies company began importing tea from Asia in the early 17th century.

Answer: This girl is very tired.

OK, this one might get tricky.

There are lots of ways of saying "this" in Spanish, depending on whether the thing you want to refer to is a noun of masculine, feminine or unknown gender, specific or implied: "este", "esta", "esto", "éste", "ésta". "Esta" is feminine.

On the other hand, "está" is a form of the verb "estar", meaning "to be". Spanish has two different verbs expressing what is a single concept in English, "estar" and "ser". Among other uses, "estar" shows location and conditions (such as being tired).

Answer: John Steinbeck

The word pair here is "ira" ("ire/wrath") and "irá" ("he/she/it/you will go"), and so the book in question is obviously John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". Awesome book, by the way, you should definitely read it even though you didn't come here for literature advice.

The Spanish verb "ir" ("to go") is one of the most irregular verbs in the language, just as in English. Various conjugations in different tenses are derived from not one but three separate Latin roots: "īre", "vādō", "sum".

Answer: It's a hopeless case. He married someone else.

The Spanish noun "caso", as you might have guessed, is related to the English word "case". Both come from the Latin "casus", which means "fallen".

"To marry" in Spanish is a reflexive verb, "casarse". It's related to "casa" ("house") so to marry someone is to house with them, which makes sense. Both words come to us from the Latin for "cottage".

An amusing marriage-related coincidence I enjoyed learning about: one of the words used for "wife" ("esposa") is related to "handcuffs" ("las esposas"). Spanish women have the shared association of marriage and handcuffs with bonds to thank for that unintentional slight.

Answer: My dad found a potato that looks like the Pope.

This was the first Spanish pun I ever created. It's very important not to mix up the Pope (masculine noun, capital P: "el Papa") with a potato (feminine noun, lower case p: "la papa"), otherwise there's a very real chance you might offend somebody--or more likely, give them a good laugh at your expense.

"Papá", with an accent, can be distinguished from popes and potatoes by pronunciation: the stress falls on the second syllable. It's an informal term for your father.

In terms of etymology, the Pope is Latin (surprise!), your dad is French and spuds comes from the Quechuan language family in South America. In some parts of the Spanish-speaking world potatoes are called "patatas", which is easy to understand but ruins my pun.

Answer: Go on holidays.

The full question was "What did the students do when the term ended"? In a parallel to English, the noun "término" ("term") can mean both a period of time or an expression in words. The related verb is "terminar" ("to terminate/end"). "Terminó" is the third person past tense conjugation ("he/she/it finished"), and we will also find the first person present tense conjugation, "termino" (I finish).

That's more than enough grammar for now. iVamos a terminarlo!

Answer: Do you have a license to sell that meat?

The accent mark in "carné", meaning card or license, indicates that stress should be placed on the second syllable. You might come across phrases like "carné de conducir" (driver's license) or "carné de identidad" (identity card). "Carnet", from the French word for the same is also commonly used in many Spanish-speaking countries.

It is easily distinguishable from the Spanish word for meat in several ways:
1. "Carne" without an accent is pronounced with the stress on the penultimate (second-last) syllable.
2. "La carne" is feminine, whereas "el carné" is masculine.
3. Chili con carne is delicious. Why you would eat chili with a license is a mystery.

Answer: She has one anus

The critical bit of punctuation for this question is a tilde, not an accent, but this particular difference is important enough to include in the quiz.

Age is expressed idiomatically in Spanish. The literal translation of "X tiene Y años" is "X has Y years". This is a very common source of error for newbie learners.

As for the difference between "ano" and "año", it's only an issue in writing because the words sound very different. Nonetheless, it pays to care about the detail, people!