Rising Intonation

Mastering the American Accent » Rising Intonation

Rising Intonation

Raise the pitch of your voice at the end of a sentence to create “rising intonation.” Rising intonation is used in “yes/no questions.” For example, “Did you see it?” is a “yes/no” question. It can be answered with either a “yes” or a “no.” Compare that question with this one: “When did you see it?” this one cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no.”

Practice Sentences

Did he work yesterday^↗?
Does he know about^↗ it?
Can you call me at^↗ five?
Is it good^↗?
Is that^↗ it?
Excuse^↗ me?
Really^↗?

Advice from a Successful Student

“I don’t get upset with myself if my accent isn’t perfect. I know I am making progress as long as I practice all the time. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you are still making mistakes. Developing an American accent is a process. It doesn’t happen overnight.”

Sabrina Stoll, Germany

Sentence Pairs for Practice

The following question pairs contain both rising and falling intonation, depending on whether they contain a “question word” or whether they are “yes/no” questions. The first question of the pair has rising intonation, and the second has falling intonation.

	yes/no question	question words
1.	Do you^↗ teach?	What do you^↘ teach?
2.	Did you see the^↗ movie?	When did you see the^↘ movie?
3.	Do you know that^↗ guy?	How do you know that^↘ guy?
4.	Did you buy the^↗ car?	Where did you buy the^↘ car?
5.	Do you work^↗ there?	Why do you work^↘ there?

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