Question Intonation – Yes/No & Wh-Questions

For many learners of another language, speaking is the scariest skill. After all, speaking is when you have to produce language in the least amount of time, and the listeners are there to form instant opinions of your ability—at least, that’s what it feels like to many! But never fear, practice makes perfect! As teachers, we can also help our students feel more confident about their speaking ability by teaching them pronunciation and intonation rules. What better place to start than with question intonation?

Most languages have only one type of question intonation: rising. English, on the other hand, has two types of question intonation: rising and falling. Fortunately, the question intonation patterns of English follow set rules—it depends if the question is a yes/no question (rising) or wh-question (falling).

The easiest way for students to pick up the intonation of a language is by modelling fluent speakers. Play the audio clips below for both types of questions, or read the questions out loud yourself, and have your students repeat the questions back.

I. YES/NO QUESTIONS:

In English, yes/no questions start with an auxiliary verb (do, be, have, or a modal such as can, should, will, etc.).

Intonation for Yes/No questions is rising. This means your voice will go up at the end of the question.

Examples:

• Did you finish your homework?

• Does he like animals?

• Are you coming to my party?

• Has she called you back?

• Should I hand in my project?

II. WH-QUESTIONS:

Wh-questions start with a wh-word (who, what, when, where, why, which, and how).

Intonation for Wh-questions is falling. This means your voice will go down at the end of the question.

Examples:

• What are you doing?

• Where is he going?

• How much does that jacket cost?

• Why are they so late?

• Who was the girl you were talking to?

Practice:

Try Sprout English’s lesson of the week, Turn Off the TV, in our Conversation Station. This dialogue is a great way to practice question intonation (and it’s a great review of the simple present, present progressive, and simple past tenses). The first examples from both types of questions above were taken from this lesson!

Activity:

Read some of the example questions, in random order, to your students (or make up some new questions). Get your students to hold up one finger for rising intonation and two fingers for falling intonation. Now have them try! Have them take turns saying a question out loud, and their classmates can hold up one or two fingers. For lower-level students, prepare a list of questions for them to choose from. For higher-level students, have them make up their own questions.

 

     

Purchase a subscription to access all our Young Learner resources. Only $7 a month.