NOTE: Final s and final n, especially in the plural of nouns and in verbs, do not count. Therefore, penas and arenas would form a feminine rhyme.
There are two kinds of rhyme: Consonance and Assonance.
A. CONSONANCE
Consonantal rhyme is one in which all the letters, vowels and consonants, are the same from the accented syllable to the end of the word, e.g. bruma—espuma; flor—amor.
In consonantal rhyme both consonants and vowels should agree exactly (sonante—errante); b and v can, however, rhyme together, since they represent the same sound, e.g. estaba—esclava; haba—clava.
The following are a few general rules for consonantal rhyme.
- A word should not rhyme with itself. Sometimes, however, a simple word rhymes with a derivative (menor—pormenor) or two derivatives with each other (menosprecio—desprecio).
- The tenses of verbs which end in -aba, -ando, -áis, -éis; the present and past participles of regular verbs; adverbs with the termination -mente; verbal nouns ending in -miento, -ción, and other similar endings,—should not rhyme together.
- Words similar in sound and form but distinct in meaning may rhyme.
- son ('sound')—son ('are')
- If an unaccented weak vowel (i, u) precedes or follows a strong vowel in the same syllable of a word, it is absorbed by the strong vowel, and does not count in the rhyme. Therefore, vuelo and cielo rhyme; also muestra and diestra.
son ('sound')—son ('are')