When do you use accent marks in Italian?

On the final vowel of any word of more than one syllable stressed on that vowel (città, perché, parlerò), on one-syllable words ending in two vowels with the stress on the last one (più, può, già), and on one-syllable words that need to be told apart from a twin (è and e, sì and si, dà and da).

What is the difference between è and é?

Both are accented e. The grave è marks an open e, as in bed, and is used in è, caffè, and tè. The acute é marks a closed e and is used mainly in words ending in -ché (perché, poiché, benché), in né and sé, and in compounds of tre such as ventitré.

Is it perché or perchè?

Perché, with an acute accent. The e is closed. Perchè with a grave accent is a common error, partly because some keyboards make è easier to type than é.

Po', with an apostrophe. It is a shortened form of poco, and the apostrophe stands for the missing letters. Pò with an accent is a mistake.

Why don't qui and qua have an accent?

Grammars usually explain that the u in qui and qua belongs to the qu sound, so these words do not really end in two vowels the way più and può do. Either way, they are fixed exceptions: qui and qua never take an accent.

Italian grammar · Beginner

Italian Accent Marks

Written by Parrot Italian Team, Italian Curriculum Editors · Reviewed October 2026

Italian accent marks show stress, and on e they also show the vowel sound. They are required in two places: on the final vowel of any word of more than one syllable stressed on that vowel (città, perché), and on a short list of one-syllable words that would otherwise look like another word (è and e, sì and si). Italian uses the grave accent (à, è, ì, ò, ù) for most words and the acute accent (é) for a closed e.

Perché il caffè è già freddo?

Why is the coffee already cold?

What it is

An accent mark in Italian is not decoration and not optional. Leaving it out is a spelling mistake, and in some words it changes the meaning: e means and, è means is. The rules are short, and once you know them you can write every common word correctly.

Marco e Anna sono qui. Marco è italiano. (Marco and Anna are here. Marco is Italian.)

How to spot it

Ask two questions. Is the word longer than one syllable and stressed on its last vowel? Then it needs an accent. Is it a one-syllable word that has a twin without an accent? Then check which of the two you mean.

città (city (stressed final vowel))
perché (why, because (closed e, acute accent))
più (more (one syllable ending in two vowels))
sì (yes (to tell it apart from si, oneself))

Qui and qua never take an accent, even though they look like più and già. This is a famous exception that Italian children learn at school.

Accent Marks Quick Reference

One-syllable words that change meaning with an accent

With accent	Meaning	Without accent	Meaning
è	is	e	and
dà	gives	da	from, by
là	there	la	the, her
lì	there	li	them
né	nor, neither	ne	of it, of them, some
sé	oneself, himself, herself	se	if; also a pronoun (se ne va)
sì	yes	si	oneself; one (impersonal)
tè	tea	te	you
dì	day (literary)	di	of

Common Accent Marks Examples in Italian

Accent marks in real words and sentences:

Final Stressed Vowels

città: city
però: but, however
lunedì: Monday

All the weekdays from Monday to Friday end in -dì and carry an accent: lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì.

Short Words With a Twin

Lui è qui.: He is here.
Mi dà una mano.: He gives me a hand.
Sì, prendo un tè.: Yes, I'll have a tea.

The accent is the only thing that separates è from e, dà from da, and tè from te in writing.

The Acute Accent

Non bevo né vino né birra.: I drink neither wine nor beer.

Perché, poiché, benché, né, and sé take the acute accent because their e is closed.

No Accent Needed

Vieni qua.: Come here.
Va bene.: Okay.
Aspetta un po'.: Wait a bit.

Va, fa, sta, so, qui, and qua have no twin to confuse them with, so they take no accent. Po' has an apostrophe, not an accent.

When Italian Words Take an Accent

Four rules tell you where the accent goes, and one tells you which accent to use.

Final Stress Needs an Accent

Every word of two or more syllables that is stressed on its last vowel carries an accent: città, università, caffè, perché, però, virtù. This includes many verb forms: parlerò, sarà, finì.

La mia università è in città.

My university is in the city.

Stress on the last vowel → accent.

One-Syllable Words: Usually No Accent

Most one-syllable words take no accent: va, fa, sta, so, tre, me, re. The exceptions are the pairs in the table, where the accent separates two different words, such as sì (yes) and si (oneself).

Sì, qui si mangia bene.

Yes, the food is good here.

sì = yes, si = one, oneself.

One Syllable Ending in Two Vowels

One-syllable words that end in two vowels with the stress on the last one take an accent: più, può, già, giù, ciò. Words such as mai, poi, and lei are stressed on the first vowel and take no accent. Qui and qua are the exceptions and never take one.

È già tardi, non posso più aspettare.

It's already late, I can't wait any longer.

più, già, può; but qui, qua.

Grave or Acute on E

A grave accent (è) marks an open e, as in bed. An acute accent (é) marks a closed e. Most words with a final é are in -ché (perché, poiché, benché, affinché) or are né, sé, and compounds of tre such as ventitré. Most other final e's take è: è, caffè, tè, cioè.

Perché il caffè è freddo?

Why is the coffee cold?

perché (é), caffè (è).

Capital È Is Written With the Accent

At the start of a sentence, is is written È. Writing E' with an apostrophe is a keyboard workaround and is not correct in careful writing. On a computer, you can type È directly or use the character viewer.

È vero.

It's true.

È, not E'.

A, I, O, U Take the Grave Accent

On a, i, o, and u, standard Italian uses the grave accent: città, così, però, più. You may see í, ó, or ú in some dictionaries and older books, but à, ì, ò, ù are the normal forms.

Così va bene.

That's fine like that.

à, ì, ò, ù.

Common Mistakes with Accent Marks

Incorrect: Lui e italiano. (He is Italian.)

Correct: Lui è italiano. (He is Italian.)

Without the accent, e means and. The verb is always è.

Incorrect: Perchè no? (Why not?)

Correct: Perché no? (Why not?)

The e in perché is closed, so it takes the acute accent. Perchè with a grave accent is a very common error, even among Italians.

Incorrect: Un pò di zucchero. (A bit of sugar.)

Correct: Un po' di zucchero. (A bit of sugar.)

Po' is a shortened form of poco, so it takes an apostrophe for the missing letters, not an accent.

Incorrect: E' tardi. (It's late.)

Correct: È tardi. (It's late.)

The capital form of è is È. E' with an apostrophe looks like a shortened word, which it is not.

One-Syllable Words With and Without an Accent

These pairs are the reason accents matter on short words. Each sentence uses both forms.

Pairs in context

The accented word and the unaccented word are pronounced almost the same, so the accent is how a reader tells them apart.

Il libro è di Marco e di Anna.: The book is Marco's and Anna's.
Mio padre mi dà dieci euro da spendere.: My father gives me ten euros to spend.
La borsa è là, sul tavolo.: The bag is there, on the table.
Ne vuoi un po'? No, grazie, non mangio né carne né pesce.: Do you want some? No thanks, I eat neither meat nor fish.
Se gli chiedi qualcosa, parla solo di sé.: If you ask him something, he only talks about himself.

Sé stesso and se stesso (himself) are both accepted spellings. Modern grammars increasingly recommend sé stesso.

Optional accents inside a word

Inside a word, Italian does not normally mark stress. Writers sometimes add an accent to separate two words that are spelled the same, but this is optional.

àncora / ancóra: anchor / still, again
prìncipi / princìpi: princes / principles

In everyday texts these words appear without accents, and context makes the meaning clear.

Quick Check: Accent Marks

Add the accent where it is needed.

1. Correct: La citta e bella.

Answer: La città è bella.

Final stress on città, and è for is.

2. Correct: Si, vengo anch'io.

Answer: Sì, vengo anch'io.

Sì means yes.

3. Correct: Non posso piu.

Answer: Non posso più.

One syllable ending in two vowels.

4. Does qui take an accent?

Answer: No. Qui and qua never take one.

The famous exception.

5. Grave or acute: benche

Answer: benché (acute)

Words in -ché take é.

Accent Marks FAQs

When do you use accent marks in Italian?: On the final vowel of any word of more than one syllable stressed on that vowel (città, perché, parlerò), on one-syllable words ending in two vowels with the stress on the last one (più, può, già), and on one-syllable words that need to be told apart from a twin (è and e, sì and si, dà and da).
What is the difference between è and é?: Both are accented e. The grave è marks an open e, as in bed, and is used in è, caffè, and tè. The acute é marks a closed e and is used mainly in words ending in -ché (perché, poiché, benché), in né and sé, and in compounds of tre such as ventitré.
Is it perché or perchè?: Perché, with an acute accent. The e is closed. Perchè with a grave accent is a common error, partly because some keyboards make è easier to type than é.
Is it po' or pò?: Po', with an apostrophe. It is a shortened form of poco, and the apostrophe stands for the missing letters. Pò with an accent is a mistake.
Why don't qui and qua have an accent?: Grammars usually explain that the u in qui and qua belongs to the qu sound, so these words do not really end in two vowels the way più and può do. Either way, they are fixed exceptions: qui and qua never take an accent.