手把手教你学口语21

Remember that intonation¹ is the rising and falling of the pitch of your voice. So “she’s here.” is a statement, but “she’s here?” is a question. But it isn’t true that all questions have a rising intonation. Today, let’s just look at the intonation of three types of questions: “Yes/No” questions, “Wh-” questions and choice questions.

“Yes/No” questions have a rising intonation. “Wh-”qusetions have a falling intonation. And choice questions have a rising intonation for every choice except the last choice, which has a falling intonation.

Let`s look at some examples.“Yes/No” questions such as “Do you like Taiwan?” “Can you speak Chinese?” have a rising intonation. The listener must answer either “yes” or “no”. “Wh-” questions start with the words “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”,” why”, “which” and “how”. “Wh-” questions have a falling tone². For example, “What time is it??” “Where do you live??” Don’t say “What time is it??” “Where do you live??” In choice questions, the listener is expected to choose one item from several. For example, “Would you like juice, Coke, Tea or coffee?” A rising tone is used for every choice except the last, which has a falling tone. Listen to another example. “Do you like basketball, baseball, soccer or football?”. So remember that “Yes/No” questions, “Wh-” questions, and choice question have different intonation patterns, and make sure to intone them properly.

This has been today’s daily tip on learning English. Tune³ in tomorrow for another tip.

1 intonation   

n.语调，声调；发声

参考例句：

• The teacher checks for pronunciation and intonation.老师在检查发音和语调。
• Questions are spoken with a rising intonation.疑问句是以升调说出来的。

2 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

3 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。