Words Which Have Raising or Falling Tone Are Underlined: Statement WH-question Yes-No Questions

Intonation in a language can be compared with a tune in music. It can go up or downwards.
In English,
the sentence intonation often indicates the mood of the speaker. Different tunes on the same word or
phrase can send different messages about the speaker's feelings.
Words which have raising or falling tone are underlined
Statement have a falling tone at the end.

WH-question ( who? what? why? when? where? how?) also have a falling tone at the end.
Yes-No questions( question you can answer with "yes" or "no" ) uaually have a raising tone.
Ex:
1. WH-question: How did you spend your vacation? ( falling tone)
2. Statement: I went to Vernice.( falling tone)
3. Yes-No question: Was it expensive?( raising tone)
4. Statement: Yes, very.( falling tone)
In English, important words in a sentence ( usu. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) are stressed.

The unimportant words ( usu. words like the, and, it, is) are not stressed. Normally, the last important
word in the sentence has the most tress.
Ex:
1. That's the person who robbed the bank!( falling tone)
2. Do you mean the man with the black pants?( raising tone)
3. No. The woman with the plastic bag.( both of words which are underlined have falling tone)
 Nice to meet ↘you.
 I’ll be back in a ↘minute.
 She doesn’t live here ↘anymore.
 Dad wants to change his ↘car.
 Here is the weather ↘forecast.
 Cloudy weather is expected at the end of the ↘week.
 We should work together more ↘often
 I'm going for a walk in the ↘park.

o Write your name ↘here.
o Show me what you’ve ↘written.
o Leave it on the ↘desk.
o Take that picture ↘ down.
o Throw that ↘out.
o Put your books on the ↘table.
o Take your hands out of your ↘pockets.
 Wh- questions (requesting information.)

(questions beginning with 'who', 'what', 'why', 'where', 'when',
'which', and 'how')
o What country do you come ↘from?
o Where do you ↘work?
o Which of them do you ↘prefer?
o When does the shop ↘open?
o How many books have you ↘bought?
o Which coat is ↘yours?
o Whose bag is ↘this?
 Questions Tags that are statements requesting confirmation

rather than questions.
Not all tag questions are really questions.
Some of them merely ask for confirmation or invite agreement, in
which case we use a falling tone at the end.
o He thinks he’s so clever, doesn’t ↘he?
o She's such a nuisance, isn't ↘she?
o I failed the test because I didn't revise, did ↘ I?
o It doesn't seem to bother him much, does ↘ it?
 Exclamations
o How nice of ↘ you!
o That's just what I ↘need!
o You don't ↘ say!
o What a beautiful ↘ voice!
o That's a ↘surprise!
Rising Intonation (➚)
(The pitch of the voice rises at the end of a sentence.)
Rising intonation invites the speaker to continue talking.

It is normally used with yes/no questions, and question tags that are real
questions.
 Yes/no Questions
(Questions that can be answered by 'yes' or 'no'.)
o Do you like your new ➚teacher?
o Have you finished ➚already?
o May I borrow your ➚dictionary?
o Do you have any ➚magazines?
o Do you sell ➚stamps?
 Questions tags that show uncertainty and require an answer (real

questions).
o We've met already, ➚haven't we?
o You like fish, ➚don't you?
o You're a new student ➚aren't you?
o The view is beautiful, ➚isn't it?
We sometimes use a combination of rising and falling intonation in the

same sentence.
The combination is called Rise-Fall or Fall-Rise intonation.
Rise-Fall Intonation (➚➘)
(The intonation rises and then falls.)
We use rise-fall intonation for choices, lists, unfinished thoughts and

conditional sentences.
 Choices (alternative questions.)
o Are you having ➚soup or ➘salad?
o Is John leaving on ➚Thursday or ➘Friday?
o Does he speak ➚German or ➘French?
o Is your name ➚Ava or ➘Eva?
 Lists (rising, rising, rising, falling)

Intonation falls on the last item to show that the list is finished.
o We've got ➚apples, pears, bananas and ➘oranges
o The sweater comes in ➚blue, white pink and ➘black
o I like ➚football, tennis, basketball and ➘volleyball.
o I bought ➚a tee-shirt, a skirt and a ➘handbag.
 Unfinished thoughts (partial statements)

In the responses to the following questions, the rise-fall intonation
indicates reservation.
The speaker hesitates to fully express his/her thoughts.
o Do you like my new handbag? Well the ➚leather is ➘nice...
( but I don't like it.)
o What was the meal like? Hmm, the ➚fish was ➘good... (but
the rest wasn't great).
o So you both live in Los Angeles? Well ➚Alex ➘does ... (but I
don't).
 Conditional sentences
(The tone rises in the first clause and falls gradually in the second
clause.)
o If he ➚calls, ask him to leave a ➘message.
o Unless he ➚insists, I'm not going to ➘go.
o If you have any ➚problems, just ➘contact us.
Fall-Rise Intonation (➘➚)
(The voice falls and rises usually within one word.
The main function of fall-rise intonation is to show that the speaker is not
certain of the answer they are giving to a question, or is reluctant to reply
(as opposed to a falling tone used when there is no hesitation). It is also
used in polite requests or suggestions.
 Hesitation/reluctance:
o So you'd be willing to confirm that? ...Well ... I ➘sup ➚pose
so ...
o You didn't see him on Monday? I don't quite ➘re➚member ...
 Politeness-Doubt-Uncertainty: (You are not sure what the answer

might be.)
o Perhaps we could ➘vis➚it the place?
o Should we ➘cop➚y the list?
o Do you think it's ➘al➚lowed?

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Intonation in a language can be compared with a tune in music. It can go up or downwards.

Statement have a falling tone at the end.

In English, important words in a sentence ( usu. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs) are stressed.

 Wh- questions (requesting information.)

 Questions Tags that are statements requesting confirmation

Rising intonation invites the speaker to continue talking.

 Questions tags that show uncertainty and require an answer (real

We sometimes use a combination of rising and falling intonation in the

We use rise-fall intonation for choices, lists, unfinished thoughts and

 Lists (rising, rising, rising, falling)

 Unfinished thoughts (partial statements)

 Politeness-Doubt-Uncertainty: (You are not sure what the answer

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