Intonation and pronunciation in English. Features of the rhythmic and intonation design of an English sentence in comparison with Russian. Pronunciation of vowel sounds in English

Depends on their purpose - orders, requests or invitations. Commands are usually spoken in a gradually descending step scale and falling ending. Requests and invitations are pronounced with a low, rising ending.

‘ Don'tgo 'outlateat\night! – Don’t go for walks at night!

‘ Takeyour /seat! - Take a seat.

Intonation of exclamations

Exclamations are usually pronounced while falling. The range of sentences can be expanded or narrowed compared to neutral statements ("/" signs before stressed syllables). Exclamation marks what And how can be stressed if there is no need to highlight the nouns/adjectives that follow them.

« How "verype\culiar! - How interesting!

How "absolutely\marvelous! - Yes, this is just wonderful!

The last stressed word with a fall is a modifiable noun, adjective or adverb.

“What a “wonderful\time we had!” - Coolrested!

“How as\tonishing it is! – Amazing!

Intonation of general questions

General questions are usually spoken with a gradually descending scale and a low rise. The level of beginning of general questions is slightly higher than categorical statements.

‘ CanI/keepit? -Can I keep it with me?

/ Isit? - Really?

Intonation of alternative questions

The intonation of alternative questions is characterized by alternating rise and fall. The first syntagmas, as general questions, are pronounced with a low rise, the second - with a low fall.

‘Is she / eighteen or \ nineteen? - To her18 or 19?

Intonation of special questions

Special questions in English are usually pronounced in a gradually descending scale with a fall. Calm, restrained questions are pronounced with a low fall. Special questions with a high fall sound animated, friendly, and interested.

‘ What'sthe\time? - How much time?

‘ Who's\that? - Who else is this?

Intonation of separating questions

The intonation of dividing questions represents statements from 2 syntagmas. The first ones are usually pronounced in a descending scale with a fall. The second syntagmas, like general mini-questions, are usually pronounced with a low rise - this is how the speaker wants to show his interest in the subject of conversation and get new information from the answer. When the speaker is confident in a positive answer, waiting only for confirmation, he pronounces the second syntagmas with a fall. Such divisive questions become statements of sorts.

You are a ‘first-year \ student, / aren’t you? - YouWithfirstcourse?

It’s a ‘nice \ day, \ isn’t it? - Niceday, Yes?

Intonation of answers

Answers to general and divisive questions sound categorically, confidently, and usually fall. A high drop in responses sounds friendly, a low drop sounds reserved.

\ No, she\ isn’t. She's a\lab assistant. - No, she is a laboratory assistant

Answers to alternative questions are usually pronounced with a low fall.

She is ‘nine\teen – She 19

Confident answers to special questions require a fall; uncertain answers usually require a low rise.

‘ That’s'Steve's\mother – This is Steve's mother

English Joke

The colored man, passing through the market, saw a turtle for the first time, and surveyed it with great interest. The creature’s head was withdrawn, but as the investigator fumbled about the shell, it shot forward and nipped his finger. With a howl of pain he stuck his finger in his mouth, and sucked it.

"What's the matter?" the fishmonger asked with a grin.

“Nothin’-jest nothin’ a tall,” the colored man answered thickly. “Ah was only wonderin’ whether Ah had been bit or stung.”

Pronunciation in English is an important element of proper language learning. Without proper production of sounds and correct intonation, your speech will not be understandable to an English-speaking person, even if you ideally know the grammatical rules and have a wide vocabulary.

This is why it is important to study sounds, intonation, and other aspects of pronunciation in English. But in English? In this article we will look at what types of intonation there are and what functions it performs.

What is intonation?

Our Russian word “intonation” is translated into English as intonation. And intonation itself is the raising or lowering of the voice in certain parts of a sentence. It is intonation that helps to put some emotional coloring or some other meaning into a sentence.

Why is intonation needed?

As already mentioned, intonation is needed mainly to indicate the semantic content of the text or the mood of the speaker. From the setting of intonation you can find out, for example, how a person feels about you or what is happening, whether he speaks with a positive or negative emotional connotation. Intonation helps you understand how angry, upset, excited or friendly a person is.

Intonation changes the meaning of a sentence

In addition, intonation is needed to place commas in a sentence. Often the whole meaning of an entire sentence depends on the correct intonation! For example, let's take the following expression (without punctuation):

• You can't love to hate.

You probably understand what we are talking about. Depending on where and how the commas are placed, what intonation will be conveyed in this sentence, the entire meaning of the sentence depends.

• You can't love, you can't hate.
• You can't love, you can't hate.

Intonation can, for example, also highlight a word in the text, or place emphasis on any expression or phrase. That is why intonation (as well as punctuation marks) greatly influence not only the emotional coloring, but also the meaning of the sentence.

Components of intonation

Intonation represents the interrelation of many components. Let's try to sort them out before moving directly to the rules of intonation in English.

1. Melody characterizes an increase or, conversely, a decrease in intonation of our speech as a whole. As an example, we can cite the difference between a sentence and a sentence that contains a question. Compare the following three sentences, trying to read them with the correct intonation. You did it. You did it! You did it? This is precisely the difference in intonation in different sentences.
2. Pace represents the speed of speech, as well as pauses between parts of the sentence, where there should be punctuation marks. After all, you must admit how much the intonation of a person speaking in a hurry differs from a teacher slowly explaining the topic of a lesson.
3. Timbre gives the sentence and intonation some kind of emotional coloring. Thus, the intonation becomes either cheerful, or sad, or excited, or even angry.
4. But logical stress acts as an accent, that is, it focuses the listener’s attention on any particular phrase, word or introductory structure in a sentence.

What is intonation in English?

But in English, the most important and fundamental component of intonation is tone. For example, these are sentences with either a question, or a statement, or even a request. It is divided into ascending (Rise) and descending (Fall). So intonation here is of only these two types, and it is used in different cases. Which ones will be described below.

Falling intonation (Fall)

One of the types of intonation in English is descending. In English it is called Fall. If you depict this type of intonation graphically, you get a gradual line or ladder going down. Accordingly, the voice also declines. But in what cases is falling intonation used in English?

• Narration, communication of any information.

In such sentences, the intonation falls. Let's give an example to make it clearer. The Earth goes round the Sun. - The earth revolves around the sun. In this sentence, it is towards the end that the voice drops a little. Try reading this sentence out loud with a falling intonation.

• An affirmative sentence, some affirmative answer.

This means a statement that confirms something. For example: That's right. Translated as “true.” Here the intonation is descending, going with a lowering of the voice towards the end of the sentence.

• Sentences that express an order or some kind of instruction, and also encourage someone to do something.

In this case, as in previous examples, the intonation is also descending. Let's do it. - Let's do it. This is another example of descending intonation in English.

• Special questions.

Questions like "What is your name?" are read with a falling intonation, even though these are questions.

Rising intonation (Rise)

Another type of intonation - rising - in English is called Rise. The peculiarity of this type is the seemingly incompleteness of the sentence. In what cases is it present? We will analyze each of them in detail with specific examples.

• In general matters.

There is always a rising intonation here. Do you like tea? - Do you like tea? Even in Russian, in such questions we raise our voice towards the end of the sentence. In English, roughly the same thing happens.

• Words of farewell and greeting.

Such words are always read with a rising intonation in English. Bye bye! - Bye bye! Good bye! - Goodbye! Hi! - Hello! Good morning! - Good morning!

• Any request from the speaker.

Requests and questions like “can I” are used with rising intonation. May I come in? - Can I come in? Can I open the window? - Can I open the window? Intonation in English questions containing a request is always rising.

• Answer requests and suggestions with politeness.

Read with rising intonation. To the question in the previous example “May I come in?” you can answer: Come in! - Come on in, come in. In this case, the short answer has a rising intonation.

Intonation consisting of simultaneously lowering and raising the voice (Fall-Rise)

This type of intonation in English is usually called Fall-Rise Intonation. There is nothing like this in the Russian language, but it becomes clear over time, in practice.

But how to read correctly with descending-rising intonation? Imagine immersing yourself in water, deepening and gradually raising the sound. First the sound plunges under water, and then suddenly emerges. When diving, the sound decreases, and when emerging, it increases again. Much the same thing happens with Fall-Rise Intonation in English.

It may not be clear to you at first. Try listening to English-speaking people and catch this intonation in their speech.

As an example, here are some proposals. Let's start with an easier option, where in one sentence (syllable) the voice first decreases, and in the next it rises again.

• That's right. I will. - That's right. I will (for example, I will be at a party, etc.)

In this case, right is pronounced with a falling intonation, and in the segment I will the voice becomes higher.

Similar intonation can also occur in sentences when there is some distance between the lowering and raising of the voice. In such sentences one senses uncertainty or some doubt on the part of the speaker.

• I"m not sure if they win... - I’m not sure if they won...
• I think they are other ways... - I think there are other ways...

The first part of the sentence (I "m not sure) is read with a falling intonation, and the second (if they win) - with a rising intonation.

In English questions, intonation is different. But in dividing lines there is always a descending-rising intonation. Try reading the following sentences with the correct intonation:

• She is a doctor, isn’t she? - She’s a doctor, isn’t she?
• He is a hard-worker, isn't he? - He's a workaholic, isn't he?
• Sue didn't come, did she? - Sue didn't come, did she?
• Mary have learned it, haven't she? - Mary learned it, didn't she?

In the first part, up to the comma, there is a gradual decrease in sound, but in the second part, containing the question, there is already an ascending intonation.

Over time, it will become clear how to create the correct intonation in English in a sentence containing lowering and raising the voice. Fall-Rise Intonation is also used in sentences expressing a note of doubt, softness, or uncertainty in the answer. This is usually a gentle answer to a question. Take a look at the example:

• I think you like this book! - Not really. - I think you like this book! - Not really.

In this sentence, it is the answer “Not really” that is read with a descending-rising intonation.

The same intonation is often used in sentences in which there is some kind of opposition. In these cases, a descending intonation is heard in the first part, and a rising intonation in the second.

I want to learn Chinese, but not now. - I want to learn Chinese, but not now.

I"d like to go with you, but I have so much work today! - I would really like to go with you, but I have too much work for today!

Raising and gradually lowering the voice (The Rise-Fall)

Another type of intonation in English found here is ascending-descending intonation, when the sound first rises and then sharply decreases. In English it was called The Rise-Fall.

This intonation is rarely used, but in sentences with it one can feel excitement, agitation, excitement.

Logical stress

As in Russian, in English there can sometimes be an emphasis on a particular word, which is the main, important meaning of any sentence. Stress and intonation in English change the meaning of a sentence. Take a look at the examples and you will understand everything.

• Ben bought apples, not pineapples. - Ben bought apples, not pineapples. Try to highlight the word apples using intonation. I bought APPLES, not pineapples.

Also in this sentence you can highlight the particle not. Logical stress is placed where the speaker wants to place it.

Intonation scale

Having studied tones, you can move on to intonation scales. They are systems that help to understand the phonetic features of the English language. There are several basic intonation scales.

1. Gradually Descending Stepping Scale + Low Fall. This complex name characterizes the scale often used in the story. Unstressed syllables are at the same height as stressed syllables. The intonation here falls towards the end of each sentence.
2. Broken Descending Stepping Scale + Low Fall. The approximate one is the same as the previous one, but here some syllables are specially highlighted, forming some rise.
3. Sliding Scale + Fall-Rise. Characteristic of colloquial speech and everyday communication. Descending tone. The tone begins on stressed syllables and then continues on unstressed syllables.
4. Scandent Scale + Low Rise. Usually this scheme is used to somehow praise someone or, conversely, to console someone. At the same time, the tone fluctuates, sometimes rising on unstressed notes, then decreasing on drums.
5. Ascending Stepping Scale + High Fall. In this diagram, attention is especially focused on certain words. special attention is paid to stressed syllables.
6. Ascending Stepping Scale + High Rise. The scheme with the emphasis on which the sentence is built, the scheme itself conveys the importance of the information.
7. Low Level Scale + Low Fall. All sounds seem to be below, thereby conveying their hostility to the interlocutor.
8. High Level Scale + High Fall. But here, on the contrary, all the sounds are high. When using this scheme, you feel high spirits and positive emotions.

Why is it important to be able to use intonation correctly?

Literally everything depends on intonation: both the meaning of the sentence itself and the mood of the speaker. With its help, you can convey a variety of emotions (joy, sadness, disapproval, anger or cheerfulness), a predisposition to what is being said. From intonation you can literally understand how a person reacts to a situation.

Regular classes and practice are important in learning any foreign language. Pronunciation is an important and integral part of English. After all, by studying phonetics, the correct placement of sounds and intonation, you can achieve competent pronunciation that will be understandable to others, including English-speaking people.

At first it is quite difficult to get the correct pronunciation, to achieve the correct sound and intonation. The best way to learn this is through practice, by reading aloud as often as possible, listening to English speech and - especially important - communicating with foreigners.

As a practice, many people learning English often use sites to communicate with foreigners not only in message format, but even via Skype or voice messages. This type of practice will improve your pronunciation, develop your vocabulary, and simply allow you to make friends around the world and have a great time learning about the traditions of foreigners and the lives of people in different parts of the world.

Try recording yourself with a voice recorder: at first it will be strange to listen to yourself recorded, but in the end you will be able to achieve a smooth and correct sound.

Ask your English-speaking friend to listen to you (again, you can meet him on the Internet) and evaluate your pronunciation. An English-speaking person will point out all your mistakes and help you achieve perfect pronunciation.

Gradually, you will begin not only to use correct intonation and sounds, but also to speak beautifully, smoothly and correctly, and this is very important when studying and mastering the English language.

A low descending tone (Low Fall) expresses completeness, confidence of the speaker, and categoricalness of the statement. For example:

"Kitty "doesn"t "know ˎSpanish.

"What"s the ˎtime?

High falling tone(High Fall) gives the phrase a lively, friendly tone, showing that the speaker is showing keen interest. For example:

"What"s the time?

Low rising tone(Low Rise) indicates incompleteness, uncertainty of the speaker, and the categorical nature of the answer or message. For example:

"Is he a ˏstudent?

If the last stressed syllable is followed by unstressed syllables, the rise is carried out on the unstressed syllables. The final stressed syllable is pronounced in a low, almost even tone. For example:

High rising tone(High Rise) is used in repeated questions. For example:

"When did he ˊcome? ˊWhat did you say?

Descending-rising tone(Fall-Rise) serves to express a large degree of incompleteness, uncertainty, as well as politeness (in polite corrections), to convey doubt, contradiction, contrast and reproach. For example:

You "promised it for ˋSaturday. - ˇMonday.

Rising-descending tone(Rise-Fall) expresses the emphatic stress of the word, carries a connotation of emotion. For example:

"This is for ˆyou.

Even tone(Mid-Level) in colloquial speech expresses hesitation, an unexpected stop, the insignificance of the syntagm or the reluctance to emphasize it. For example:

The prenuclear part of the syntagma in emotionally neutral utterances usually forms descending scale (Descending Head), which has 2 varieties:

falling scale (Falling Head). For example:

step scale (Stepping Head). For example:

or high level scale (High Level Head), when the prenuclear part of the syntagm includes one stressed syllable. For example:

In the text, the first stressed syllable of the descending scale is indicated by | \ |, a low falling tone is indicated by | ˎ |, high falling tone - | ˋ |, low rising tone - | ˏ |, high rising tone - | ˊ |, falling-rising tone | ˇ |, ascending-descending tone | ˆ |, stressed non-nuclear syllables | " |secondary stress |ֽ |, pause between syntagmas |, pause between sentences ||.

Exercise 1. Read the following sentences paying attention to the intonation:

Exercise 2. Read the following sentences paying attention to the intonation:

Scale with broken gradualness (Broken Descending Scale). A gradually descending step scale may be pronounced in such a way that the descending movement of the pitch of the voice may be broken on some stressed syllable. This syllable is usually pronounced higher than the preceding syllables. Such a scale is called a gradually descending scale with broken gradualness; a stressed syllable sounding at a higher level than the preceding syllables is pronounced with the so-called special lift (Special Rise). Disruption of the downward movement of the voice tone can occur on any stressed syllable of the scale, with the exception of the first stressed syllable. In the text, a scale with impaired gradualness is indicated by a sign before a syllable that is pronounced higher than the preceding syllables.

Many may be surprised to learn that native English speakers find Russian speech monotonous and unemotional. In fact, everything is simple: in an English sentence there is a fixed word order, and therefore intonation is almost the only way to convey the nuances of the meaning of a sentence and place logical accents.

This means that you can have excellent knowledge of English vocabulary and grammar, but only the ability to use the intonation system of English will raise your level of language proficiency to fluent.

WHY IS KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH INTONATION SYSTEM IMPORTANT?

Reason #1: According to research, the meaning of a spoken phrase is 80% read through non-verbal means of communication - gestures and facial expressions, 15% - through intonation, and only 5% - through words.

Reason #2: If you do not master the norms of “speaking” English, then you risk being misunderstood or misunderstood by your interlocutor. If you pronounce the same phrase with different intonations, you will get completely opposite shades of meaning. But in order to become a full-fledged business partner or a worthy employee abroad, you need to be on the same emotional wavelength as your interlocutor.

Reason #3: The inability to use characteristic English intonation in no time (more precisely, in two sentences) reveals you as a foreigner! It turns out that English words and sentences are pronounced with Russian intonation. For those who speak English as their native language, such speech sounds at least strange.

!Interesting, that there is also the opposite phenomenon. Watch some announcers and TV presenters. Those of them who are fluent in English and regularly communicate in it with native speakers can also use English logical stress in Russian speech with its intonation “ups” and “downs”, completely alien to the Russian language.

ABOUT LOGIC AND MEANING

Speaking Russian, we, of course, do not think about what intonation to use at one time or another. For us it is as simple as breathing or walking. Now imagine that you need to get on the “new rails”. First, let's remember two simple things about English intonation:

• Logical stress (that is, emphasis on any word in a sentence) exists in both Russian and English. Only in Russian does it serve to highlight the semantic center (that is, the most important) in a sentence, and in English - to a greater extent to express emotions.
• It just so happens that in English the most important or new information is contained at the end of the sentence, and therefore the meaning of the statement depends on how you pronounce this final phrase. Here's more about this.

UP - DOWN: “FLYING” IN THE ENGLISH EXPANSION!

In the intonation system of the English language, there are two main tones:

• descending
• ascending

DESCENDING Falling Tone is a gradual decrease in the tone of the voice on stressed syllables, and on the last word the voice can “drop” quite sharply.

Remember: Descending tone is the tone of categorical statement, completeness, certainty. It is used most often in exclamatory sentences, short declarative sentences, as well as in greetings and orders.

For example: Come to? me (the falling intonation makes this simple phrase almost an order)

RISING Rising Tone is the antipode of descending: the first stressed syllable is pronounced at a fairly low level, and towards the last word the tone rises noticeably.

Remember: A rising tone is a tone of uncertainty, incompleteness, uncertainty, doubt. Requests, polite addresses, and general questions that require monosyllabic yes/no answers are made with a rising tone. And also this tone of informal communication.

For example: Do you like? chocolate?

!Interesting: Greetings in English are pronounced with a falling tone (Good? morning). The rising tone in this case will sound familiar. But “farewell formulas,” on the contrary, are most often pronounced with an ascending tone: “Good? bye". Such intonation subtleties!

Let's learn one, two, three!

To quickly “get into” the intricacies of English pronunciation, use three tips:

TIP #1: Watch movies, TV series, TV shows in English. By the way, the following are not the best assistants in teaching the intonation subtleties of English:

• songs in English, since the intonation in them is far from conversational and is subordinated to the rhythm and tempo of the melody;
• news stories in English, since the speed of pronunciation of the text in them is sometimes several times higher than the norms of colloquial speech (you simply will not be able to catch subtle intonation nuances).

TIP #2: Take auditions regularly. English listening recordings are created for educational purposes, and therefore they are pronounced clearly, intelligibly and rather slowly.

TIP #3: Work through this issue with the teacher, and both individual and group lessons will be useful (in some cases, group lessons will be even more effective: hearing your own intonation error can sometimes be difficult, but others’ ones can be heard instantly). It is better to study with a teacher whose native language is English: he will be able to teach you all the intricacies of English pronunciation.

Soft intonation “flight”!

Two passers-by just passed by you and spoke a foreign language. You didn’t understand a word, but you still immediately understood what language they were speaking. How can this be?

Each language has a unique melody and tonality. To understand what we mean, watch this video:

The heroine of the video speaks a complete gibberish of made-up words, but at the same time pronounces sounds characteristic of each language with the correct speed, tone, intonation, rhythm and stress, thereby creating a completely convincing illusion of Finnish, Swedish or English.

English intonation includes the tone and pace of speech, pauses and logical stresses placed in a special way. The melody of a language is, first of all, intonation, and this is something you don’t even think about when speaking your native language. Intonation is the raising or lowering of your voice, and when communicating in English it is just as important as the words and expressions you say.

That's why when you're learning to speak English, it's important to remember not only WHAT to say, but also HOW to say it.

In today's article, we will show you seven situations in which English intonation plays a key role.

How intonation can change everything

Words spoken with the correct intonation can take on new shades of meaning. Imagine that your voice is a musical instrument. You speak and your voice becomes louder or softer, using it to emphasize certain words. The notes you sound in your speech represent pitch, and changes in pitch are intonation.

Let's check! Say it out loud now:

“How do you doin’?”

At first glance, this is a familiar relaxed way of asking how you are, but it is grammatically incorrect (it would be correct to say “How are you doing?”), but understandable to everyone.

When you said this now, you most likely started on a fairly low note, and then your voice rose to a higher note at the moment doin'. This means that you pronounced this phrase with a rising intonation.

Now listen to how our beloved Joey from :

He places emphasis on you, and the phrase immediately ceases to be innocent - he is clearly flirting, and due to the change in intonation, the greeting immediately becomes a hint of something more.

But the matter doesn't end there! Even the simplest “Really?” can be pronounced with very different intonations, giving it new meanings: rising intonation will convey your surprise, descending intonation will convey skepticism and distrust, and even intonation (and even pronounced with a “stony” face) will convey sarcasm.

Another illustrative example is a short episode from the series "The Good Wife":

How to master and practice English intonation

To improve your intonation in English, you first need to understand how it works and how accurately you can convey it. To get a “starting point”, start with a self-test - choose a paragraph that has different types of sentences (from any book or book), and record yourself on the voice recorder in your phone. Listen to the recording and analyze what you need to work on. Are you speaking too monotonously? Or does the intonation sound natural? Will you, like the girl in the video, be able to pass as a native speaker without knowing a single word of it?

There are several effective ways to practice correct intonation and find “your voice” in English:

• Read along with the video. Shadow reading- a special reading aloud technique where you read along with a video or audio clip. To try it, find a video with subtitles on YouTube. Watch a short clip and then play it again and say the same thing at the same time as the video. Try to convey the speed of speech, logical stress, pauses and pitch as accurately as possible.
• Mark up texts . Make notes in the text, for example, draw arrows that will show at what moments and on what words the pitch should increase or decrease.
• Don't be afraid to exaggerate . To accurately hit the desired intonation, in the first stages you can deliberately exaggerate it. Imagine that you are on stage, speaking very expressively, even if the pitch of your voice changes very much - you still won’t be able to do this in fluent speech, but this way you can get used to the intonation patterns of English sentences and over time you will learn to reproduce them without thinking .
• Experiment . Choose one sentence and say it with different intonations, put emphasis on different words. Try to pronounce it in anger, joyfully, tiredly, in surprise.
• Communicate with native British and American English speakers . It could be friends or... The second option is preferable if you are faced with the task of “setting” the correct intonation: a professional will immediately pay attention to those moments when your speech sounds unnatural to the English-speaking ear, and when the wrong intonation distorts the meaning of what you are saying.

When working on intonation, it is important to have a standard that you can focus on when “calibrating” the tone of your voice. Watch free video courses on YouTube from super-popular English teachers who go into great detail about all types of intonation in English and cases when intonation deviates from the rules:

7 situations that illustrate the rules of intonation in English

• Affirmative sentences

Simple affirmative sentences (which are not qualifiers and do not emphasize any information) are usually pronounced with a falling intonation.

I’ve been playing the violin for seven years.

In this video, a participant in the show "America's Got Talent" With a descending intonation, he answers standard questions from judges:

• Interrogative sentences

General questions that require a monosyllabic answer of “yes” or “no” are characterized by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence:

Are you going to school tomorrow?

Other types of questions are usually pronounced with a falling intonation:

Why are you going to school tomorrow? It's Saturday!

In this video from the popular series “73 Vogue Questions” the first questions sound with a descending intonation, but when the “voiceover” asks “Can I get a tour?”, the intonation becomes rising because this is a common question:

• Transfer

When enumerating, each new element is pronounced with rising intonation, except for the last one, on which the intonation always falls.

I love chocolate, strawberry and pistachio ice cream.

In this video, she lists what she likes about her favorite type of bread and reads the list of ingredients. Every time you hear a rising intonation, it means there's another ingredient or benefit coming next:

• Expressing emotions

Joy, excitement, fear, irritation - these emotions can be conveyed using rising intonation. Depending on the situation, the sentence below may express any of these emotions:

I can’t believe you quit your job!

Falling intonation, on the contrary, is associated with boredom, sarcasm and indifference. The example below will sound very sarcastic and even offensive if pronounced with a lower intonation - it will immediately become clear that you are not the least bit happy:

I am so excited for you.

A Pixar cartoon called "Inside Out" is all about emotions, and this excerpt from it is a great example of how our voice and manner of speaking convey our true feelings. Disgust asks a question “Hold on, what is that?” with a rising intonation, although this is not a question that can be answered “yes” or “no”, but thereby expresses her feeling of disgust. And when Anger joins the conversation, the tone of his voice rises with every sentence, and this shows how angry he is:

• Logical stress

Highlighting a certain word in a sentence with your voice allows you to place logical emphasis on it and emphasize its importance. In the sentence below you can focus on red or scarf, depending on whether you are interested in the color of the scarf or the fact of buying a scarf, and not, for example, a hat:

I hope you got the red scarf.

In this video, in the very first line, the heroine uses intonation to highlight words name, safe And what to sound more convincing and explain your idea more accurately:

• Comparison

When comparing or contrasting two elements, rising intonation and logical stress on the compared objects are used:

I thought he liked dogs but he actually likes cats.

In this video, the voice-over announcer emphasizes the words book And movie as key elements of comparison:

• Dividing questions

Second part tag questions in English it is pronounced with a rising intonation when you need to clarify information, hear the agreement or disagreement of your interlocutor, that is, you are waiting for an answer from him. Tag questions, pronounced with a falling intonation, do not imply an answer at all, but rather are needed to emphasize that the speaker is confident that he is right.

See how separating questions work and watch your intonation:

Intonation in English can make an innocuous sentence appear sarcastic or playful, turn a question into a statement, and convey even the most subtle nuances of feeling. Try to tame it and you will sound like a native speaker.