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Rising intonation describes how the voice rises at the end of a sentence. Rising intonation is common in yes-no questions: I hear the Health Centre is expanding. So, is that the new doctor? Are you thirsty? Fall-rise intonation describes how the voice falls and then rises.
- English (US)
Intonation - English Grammar Today - a reference to written...
- English Grammar Today
Intonation - English Grammar Today - yazılı ve sözlü...
- English (US)
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
- Asking Questions Follows Two Patterns
- Question Tags
- Question Tags to Confirm
- Question Tags to Ask For Clarification
- End of Sentences
- Commas
- Pause After An Introductory Subordinate Clause
Rising Voice at the End of a Question
If the question is a yes / no question, the voice rises at the end of a question. 1. Do you like living in Portland? 2. Have you lived here a long time? 3. Did you visit your friends last month?
Falling Voice at the End of a Question
If the question is an information question—in other words, if you are asking a question with 'where,' 'when,' 'what,' 'which,' 'why,' 'what/which kind of..,' and questions with 'how'—let your voice fall at the end of a question. 1. Where are you going to stay on vacation? 2. When did you arrive last night? 3. How long have you lived in this country?
Question tags are used to either confirm information or to ask for clarification. The intonation is different in each case.
If you think you know something, but would like to confirm it, let the voice fall in the question tag. 1. You live in Seattle, don't you? 2. This is easy, isn't it? 3. You aren't coming to the meeting, are you?
When using a question tag to clarify, let the voice rise to let the listener know that you expect more information. 1. Peter isn't going to be at the party, is he? 2. You understand your role, don't you? 3. We aren't expected to finish the report by Friday, are we?
The voice usually falls at the end of sentences. However, when making a short statement with a word that is only one syllable the voice rises to express happiness, shock, approval, etc. 1. That's great! 2. I'm free! 3. I bought a new car. When making a short statement with a word that is more than one syllable (multi-syllabic) the voice falls. 1. M...
We also use a specific type of intonation when using commas in a list. Let's take a look at an example: In this example, the voice rises after each item in the list. For the final item, let the voice fall. In other words, 'tennis,' 'swimming,' and 'hiking' all rise in intonation. The final activity, 'biking,' falls in intonation. Practice with a fe...
Subordinate clauses begin with subordinating conjunctions. These include 'because,' 'though,' or time expressions such as 'when,' 'before,' 'by the time,' as well as others. You can use a subordinating conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause at the beginning of a sentence, or in the middle of a sentence. When beginning a sentence with a subor...
- Kenneth Beare
Rising-Falling Intonation. There is a common pattern in English where the tones go normal-high-low. This is called Rising-Falling intonation. There are three main kinds of sentences that use Rising-Falling intonation: Statements; Commands; Wh-questions; Let’s look at some examples of each of these. Statements. This is my friend. I’m leaving ...
There are two basic patterns of intonation in English: falling intonation and rising intonation. In the following examples a downward arrow ( ) indicates a fall in intonation and an upward arrow ( ) indicates a rise in intonation.
Should your voice rise or fall? Learn to choose falling or rising intonation when making statements or asking questions in English.
Intonation refers to the melody of the language. Three common intonation patterns are falling intonation, rising-falling, and falling-rising intonation patterns. Intonation is closely connected to grammar and meaning. Intonation can signal a statement or a question.
