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Asking Questions Follows Two Patterns: Period, Comma, Semi-Colon or Colon
Asking Questions Follows Two Patterns: Period, Comma, Semi-Colon or Colon
I'm going to visit my friends in Chicago. They have a beautiful house, so I'm staying
with them for two weeks.
In this example, pause after 'Chicago' and 'house.' This will help anyone who's
listening to you follow you more easily. On the other hand, if you rush through
the periods and commas (and other punctuation marks), your pronunciation will
sound unnatural and it will be difficult for listeners to follow your thoughts.
Punctuation that marks the end of a sentence also has specific intonation.
Intonation means the rising and the lowering of the voice when speaking. In
other words, intonation refers to the voice rising and falling. Let's take a look at
the different types of intonation used with pronunciation.
If the question is a yes / no question, the voice rises at the end of a question.
End of Sentences
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.
That's great!
I'm free!
When making a short statement with a word that is more than one syllable
(multi-syllabic) the voice falls.
Mary is happy.
We're married.
They're exhausted.
Commas
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 few more
examples:
When you read this letter, I will have left you forever.