# Spanish help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2003, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113 "2003-04-16T16:51:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/21 "2003-04-17T16:25:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > \*\*Now that you brought it up 🙂 Is there an easier way to insert â€œĂ±â€ than Alt+164, which is what I normally use? \*\* I have posted this before and I am in a hurry but you can find the old post for details. In the control panel configure the keyboard as “US International” and then : ~+ n = ñ , ~+ N = Ñ, '+ a = ĂĄ , '+ space = ', ctrl+ alt + ? = Âż, etc ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/22 "2003-04-17T16:27:45Z")
The easier way to insert ñ is to have your keyboard set to Spanish. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/23 "2003-04-17T22:41:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGrenze \* > The easier way to insert ñ is to have your keyboard set to Spanish. 🙂 I know you are kidding but for those who might get confused: this won’t work because if you set the keyboard to Spanish in the control panel you need to change the physical keyboard as well or the keytops will not match what you actually get. I spent some time last week troubleshooting a friend’s computer which at first would not even boot. Finally I got it to boot into DOS but very limitedly and I could not get the Spanish driver for the Spanih keyboard it had. So, I was typing on a Spanish keyboard which was behaving like it was American and I was lucky I had my laptop with me and I could look at the layout there and then try to find the same key on the Spanih keyboard. A real PITA. Setting the keyboard to US international works best for me. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/24 "2003-04-17T23:57:50Z")
Sailor, I’m not kidding
 my laptop’s keyboard **is** set to Spanish. You’re right that the characters change places (and some appear, and some disappear, go figure). I just memorized it as it was. Now I have more trouble working in a normal keyboard than in my changed one. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/25 "2003-04-18T00:43:55Z")
You can have both languages (or how ever many you want) configured in Windows and switch back and forth by clicking on the language icon in the tool bar or with a key combo. I’m using a Spanish keyboard but I also have English configured. On another computer I have an English keyboard and change it back and forth. For people with an English keyboard, you can find an image of a Spanish language keyboard layout on the net, print it out and tape it to your tower. After awhile you’ll have the key locations memorized. This can be really useful if you use Spanish a lot. Most of the diacritical and puncuation marks plus the **ñ** are just one key. A few keys have 3 different functions instead of 2. These use \*right alt + \*, for example the aroba is right alt + Q. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/26 "2003-04-18T03:12:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KarlGrenze \* > \*\*Sailor, I’m not kidding
 my laptop’s keyboard **is** set to Spanish. You’re right that the characters change places (and some appear, and some disappear, go figure). I just memorized it as it was. Now I have more trouble working in a normal keyboard than in my changed one. \*\* It’s gonna be a while before I go back to my default keyboard settings 😃 ññññññññ ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/27 "2003-04-18T16:07:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > \*\*OK, this may be a nitpick, but why is nobody in this thread using accent marks? Even the native speakers? \*\* I, for one, wholeheartedly agree. On that vein: > [@](#): > > “OjalĂĄ que sea el jefe,” not “ojala.” This appears to be an exclamatory sentence, which would require the “que” to be accentuated (quĂ©). It should carry an accent whenever it is utilized in exclamatory or interrogatory clauses. > [@](#): > > “ándale (in lower case to show accent mark),” not “andale.” All words that require an accent do so regardless of the case that is used. Thus, one should say “Ándale” instead of “Andale”. The belief that the use of upper-cases exempts the writer from employing accent marks is a widely held misconception that the Spanish Royal Academy expressly denounced in the latest incarnation of its “OrtografĂ­a de la Lengua Española”. > [@](#): > > **sailor** remarked > But let us look at “llamame” which is really a compound word. Llama + me. Llama on its own carries no mark so llamame seems to me not so wrong even though the rules say it should carry the mark. So, when I’m feeling lazy I might leave some like that off whereas I would never leave others off. Well, actually this is not as capricious as it might appear. The idea behind the rule stating that all “esdrĂșjulas” and “sobreesdrĂșjulas” must carry an orthographical accent allows for less confusion as to which is the tonic syllable in a word. Its omission may lead to an erroneous pronunciation; after all, the accent mark helps the speaker distinguish the stressed syllable in a word, facilitating pronunciation and improving communication. > [@](#): > > There are compound words ending in “mente” which the root does not have an accent and I always hate having to add it in the compund and I often don’t do it. “Delicadamente” means “de forma delicada” and looks to my eye perfectly well without any accents even though the dictators at the Real Academia have decreed it should have it. Actually, the laziness-induced omission of the accent mark worked in your favor: “Delicadamente” is not accentuated. Adverbs formed by adding the suffix “mente” retain the accent mark in the place where the root word had it. If, as in this case, the original word is not accentuated (the adjective “delicada”), then the compound word should not incorporate the accent mark either. Don’t you just love arbitrary conventions. 🙂 Hasta la vista, baby. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![quasar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@quasar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quasar)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113/28 "2003-04-19T23:24:18Z")
[Embarassed] In reference to this example sentence posted by **Eva Luna** : > [@](#): > > “OjalĂĄ que sea el jefe,” not “ojala.” I erroneously said: > [@](#): > > This appears to be an exclamatory sentence, which would require the “que” to be accentuated (quĂ©). It should carry an accent whenever it is utilized in exclamatory or interrogatory clauses. :eek: :eek: :eek: Actually, whether the “que” is part of an exclamatory sentence or not is immaterial in determining whether it’s accentuated or not. What matters is if the exclamatory force of the sentence resides on it. If it does, it acquires the accent; otherwise it’s left unaccentuated. In this case, the exclamation is clearly expressed by “Ojalá” and thus the accent mark is not required. Or, in other words, **Eva Luna** was correct whereas I was talking out of my ass. 🙂 Had the sentence not included the “ojalĂĄ,” then it would indeed have been in good form to say: ÂĄ **QuĂ©** sea el jefe! [/Embarassed] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-help/169113.md?page=1)