when to use an accent on the word "mas"
Is there an accent on the word "mas"?
2 Answers
http://spanish.about.com/od/Spelling/fl/Mas-vs-Maacutes.htm
Question: Why does the word más need an accent? The pronunciation would presumably be the same without one.
Quick answer: The accent is used to distinguish más, usually an adverb meaning "more" or "most," from mas, usually a conjunction meaning "but."
Explanation: Written accents are used in Spanish for two reasons. First, as you say, they are used as a guide to pronunciation, indicating which syllable is stressed if the word doesn't follow the usual stress pattern. For example, hablo (I speak, pronounced AH-blo) is not the same thing as habló (he/she spoke, pronounced ah-BLO). Second, the accent is used to distinguish two words (or sometimes two usages of a single word) that sound alike and would otherwise be written alike. A good example is distinguishing de, often meaning "of," from dé, a form of dar, meaning "to give."
The difference between más and mas is a little bit of both. Historically, mas has been an unstressed form of más, and their meanings diverged to the point where they're considered separate words.
Mas, by the way, is mostly a literary word. You're unlikely to hear it in everyday speech, where pero is used to mean "but."
