Rising and Falling Intonation

Functions of Falling Intonation

• Statements or comments
• Wh questions like ‘where are you going?’
• Low energy emotions such as boredom, disinterest

If you are familiar with what I mean by word stress you will understand that
stressed words (important words or short phrases) in a sentence are the
exception to the falling tone applied to the rest of the words in the above
sentences. That’s because one of the ways English speakers mark the
importance of a stressed word is with a sudden rise in tone. For example
the word ‘outside’ in the following sentence:

‘I want to eat outside this evening’

Functions of Rising Intonation

Rising intonation is often overused by both non-native English speakers as

well as native speakers (and most people don’t realise they are doing it!)
Many non-native speakers have been taught to use rising intonation when
asking any kind of question, but this is not correct as English
speakers only use rising tone for questions with a yes/no answer! The
rising tone intonation pattern is only used for:

• Questions with a yes/no answer

• Requests for clarification (indicates uncertainty)

• High energy emotions e.g. happiness/anger/shock

Functions of Mixed Intonation

Mixed intonation in English sentences serve several functions including:

• Offering a choice of two (high to low intonation) e.g. black or white?

• Listing items (gradually rise then fall on the last word) e.g. milk, bread,
butter and cheese