The accent grave is a diacritical mark used in various languages, primarily in French, Italian, and Spanish. It appears as a downward sloping line (`) placed over vowels, such as in the words père (father) in French or città (city) in Italian. The accent indicates a specific pronunciation, often signaling an open vowel sound. In French, the accent grave is commonly found over the vowels e, a, and u. For example, it distinguishes between the words a (has) and à (to), which have different meanings. In Spanish, it is less common but can appear in certain regional dialects, affecting pronunciation and meaning.