Intonation Review

In the following section you're going to find several online material related to the topics you've covered in previous courses. We hope you find them very useful! They'll surely help you with your improvement and performance!

Intonation

-Watch the following video:

Rising and Falling Intonation in WH- and Yes/No Questions

Questions end in both rising and falling intonation. If the sentence ends in falling intonation, the voice tone goes down at the end of the sentence, much like musical notes on a piano. If a sentence ends in rising intonation, the voice tone goes up at the end of the sentence.

Falling Intonation

Questions that begin with who, what, when, where, why, which, and how (often referred to as “wh-questions”) usually end in falling intonation. Examples:

What time is it?

Who is she?

When is he coming?

Also, commands and statements end in falling intonation. Commands and statements end in a period.

Examples:

Commands

Shut the door.

Write your name.

Statements

The color is blue.

It is raining.

Rising Intonation

Questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no” answer (often referred to as “yes/no questions”)

usually end in rising intonation. The voice tone goes up at the end of the sentence. Examples:

Is it five o’clock yet?

Is that Mrs. Smith?

Is he coming?

In addition, wh-questions that ask for clarification or restating end in rising intonation.

Examples:

What did you just say?

What did you say your name was?

-Before you practice:

Let's practice:

-Get in pairs and create a dialogue using the following phrases to practice intonation

Example:

A: Waiter! Waiter! There's a fly in my soup!

B: A fly in your soup? What's it doing there?

A: I have no idea.

B: Well, what do you want me to do about it?

A: I want you to come and get it out.

B: All right. Calm down. I'll be there in a few minutes.

Police! Police! There's a rhinoceros in my back yard!

Waiter! Waiter! There's a spider in my spaghetti!

Mommy! Mommy! There's a kangaroo in the living room!

Daddy! Daddy! There's a gorilla in the garage!

Teacher! Teacher! There's a scorpion in my school bag!

Help! Help! There's a hippopotamus in the bathtub!

Jimmy! Jimmy! There's a lizard in my slipper!

Mr. Hopkins! There's a crocodile in the cafeteria!

Waitress! Waitress! There's a worm in my hamburger!

Ms. Chivous! There's a fish in cash register!

Principal! There's a giraffe in the gymnasium!

Mrs. Harper! There's a snake in the snack bar!

Grandma! Grandma! There's a rabbit in the refrigerator!

Teacher! Teacher! There's a rat in my backpack!

-Read this article: Intonation

- Listen to the following podcast: