If you've been hanging around here for even a little while, you've probably heard me talk
about the importance of intonation in American English.
Intonation is like the music of English.
It's how our voices rise and fall in order to communicate certain meaning through our tone.
In this video, we're going to talk about the most common type of intonation.
We're going to talk about falling intonation.
Falling intonation is most commonly used on normal, neutral statements and information questions.
Because falling intonation is so essential for clear communication in English, it's important
to master this particular intonation pattern.
Welcome back to the English with Kim YouTube channel where we talk about what to say, how
to say it, and why it matters.
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Like I said a moment ago, falling intonation is the most common intonation pattern in American English.
When we use the term "falling intonation," we're actually talking about a rise and then
a fall on the most important content word of the sentence.
In normal, neutral sentences, the last content word of the sentence is the one that receives
the most stress, and so we're going to rise and then fall from that stressed syllable
down to the end of the sentence.
Your pitch is going to rise to its highest point on this stressed syllable
and then drop down at the end.
This drop at the end is why a lot of people refer to this type of intonation as falling intonation.
Before we start practicing falling intonation.
Let's talk about why it matters.
Why do we use falling intonation?
We use falling intonation on normal, neutral sentences.
We use falling intonation when we're giving information or making observations.
We also use falling intonation when we're asking information questions.
This distinguishes them from yes/no questions, which we'll talk about in another video.
Information questions are sometimes called wh-questions because many of the question
words begin with "wh."
Information questions are the questions that begin with who, what, where, why, how, how
long, how much, how many, and other variations on these question words.
Because we often use normal, neutral statements as well as information questions, falling
intonation communicates clearly that we're done with the statement or the question.
Falling intonation signals that we're done with the thought.
We also use falling intonation when giving commands, instructions, or orders.
Keep in mind that in order to use falling intonation correctly, you also need to have
a contrast between stressed syllables and unstressed syllables throughout your sentence.
If your pitch sounds the same throughout your sentence, but then you have a drop at the
end, it can signal a different type of emotion.
We'll talk about that at the end of the video.
As I mentioned, in order to create the correct intonation in American English, you need to
make sure you're also stressing your content words and reducing your function words.
If you need more review on how to use sentence stress in American English, be sure to check
out my video, which I've linked in the cards and also in the description below the video.
As we go through the example sentences, pay attention to the pitch drop on that last content
word, down to your baseline pitch.
Many non-native speakers struggle with falling intonation because this drop in pitch on the
last content word can actually be very quick or very steep.
When we have one- or two-syllable words, the pitch needs to rise on the stressed syllable
and then drop quickly at the end.
Native English speakers do this automatically, so we're able to glide our pitch down on a
one-syllable word.
If you're not used to creating this intonation pattern, you're going to need to practice it.
Be sure to check out my video on pitch exercises to help you practice that.
Once again, I've included a link in the cards and also below the video.
As we go through these examples, please be sure to pay attention to the steep drop in
pitch on the last content word.
As you start practicing falling intonation, try to focus on factual sentences, things
that you can say because they are true.
This will make it easier to create the right intonation pattern when you're
using neutral, normal sentences.
As you'll learn in other videos, we sometimes shift the stress of the sentence in order
to change the meaning.
When you're practicing falling intonation, you want to make sure you have that glide
down from the stressed syllable, down to the end of the sentence.
When you get started, it's much easier to practice with these normal, neutral sentences
where the last content word is the one that receives the most stress in the sentence.
Let's look at some examples.
I'm from Boston.
As you can hear in this example, I'm stressing the first syllable of the city, Boston, BOSton,
and then I'm dropping down at the end.
I'm from Boston.
You can hear that there's a drop in pitch from that stressed syllable down to the end
of the sentence.
I'm from Boston.
Let's try another example.
Today is a sunny day.
As you can hear, I am rising and dropping in pitch on that last content word.
Today is a sunny day.
You can hear that I'm using that pitch glide down to the end in order to signal that I'm
done with this statement.
Today is a sunny day.
Can you hear the falling intonation at the end of the sentence?
Now let's try a couple of longer sentences.
California is one of the biggest states in the US.
As you can hear, "US" is my last content word in this statement.
California is one of the biggest states in the US.
I am rising to "S" and then dropping on that last syllable.
California is one of the biggest states in the US.
That rise and drop on the "s" is signaling that I'm done with my statement.
Here's another example.
When you have a moment, send me the latest report.
As you can hear my pitch is rising to that last stressed syllable, "port," and then dropping
at the end.
When you have a moment, send me the latest report.
Can you hear that fall at the end of the sentence?
One more example with these neutral sentences.
In my country, we take education seriously.
As you can hear, my pitch is rising to the stressed syllable on the last content word,
"seriously," the stressed syllable is "ser," and then the pitch falls at the end.
In my country, we take education seriously.
As you can hear, falling intonation is more obvious on longer words, but that doesn't
mean it's not important on the shorter words that you heard in many of the other examples.
As I often mention, we use a lot of short words in natural speech, so you want to make
sure you're able to create that pitch drop on short words just as well as
you do on long words.
How are you doing with these examples?
As you probably noticed in the longer examples, you may hear some rises and falls mid-sentence
in order to help with the cadence of the statement.
These changes in tone mid-sentence will vary based on a number of factors, but most importantly,
it has to do with how the person is chunking their words or breaking their sentence
into shorter phrases.
Be sure to check out the resources below the video for more details.
Now, let's move on to talking about how we use falling intonation in information questions.
Let's start with one of the most common questions in English.
Where are you from?
As you can hear, we're having that rise and then the fall on the last content word
of the sentence, "from."
Where are you from?
It's important to understand that when you do have the fall at the end of the sentence,
that signals to the other person that you're waiting to hear their answer.
Let's try another example.
How long have you been living here?
In this example, "living" is the most important content word because that's
the information I want.
How long have you been living here?
As you can hear, you have a little more time to produce that fall at the end of the sentence.
How long have you been living here?
Whenever you have extra bonus words at the end of the sentence, but they're not the most
important words of the sentence, that will give you a little more time to create that
fall at the end of the sentence.
How long have you been living here?
Like I said at the beginning, the last content word of the sentence might vary based on various
factors such as what word you're trying to emphasize, the information you're trying to
get from the other person, what's been happening in the rest of the sentence.
Depending on the context, you may stress a different word, but you will still have that
fall to the end in order to signal that it's an information question.
One more example.
Why do you think that?
As you can hear, I'm rising in pitch to the most important word, "think,"
and then dropping down at the end.
Why do you think that?
Just to remind you again, when you hear that fall at the end of an information question,
it signals to the other person that you're ready to hear their answer.
Without that drop, they may think you're asking a different type of question, or that you
don't really need them to respond or take over in the conversation.
You'll also hear falling intonation on tag questions.
When you have falling intonation on tag questions, it signals that it's just an observation.
Like I said at the beginning, we use falling intonation when we're making observations.
So you may say something like, The weather is beautiful, isn't it?
The weather is beautiful, isn't it?
I'm not expecting the other person to respond.
We can both see that the weather is beautiful.
The fall at the end is just an interesting way to make an observation.
The weather is beautiful today, isn't it?
It's a beautiful day, isn't it?
This place is beautiful, isn't it?
We're having a great time, aren't we?
Now that you've had the opportunity to practice falling intonation with my examples, it's
time for you to create your own.
Write three to five normal, neutral sentences.
Try writing factual statements about your life or about things that you've observed recently.
Then write down three to five information questions.
Look at the sentences and questions you've created, and identify the last content word.
You may also want to mark the words that should be stressed in the sentence to make sure you've
got the right intonation throughout the sentence.
Then take a moment and read your sentences and questions out loud.
Make sure that you're rising to that last content word and then falling down in pitch at the end.
Like I said, this fall in pitch could happen on a one or two syllable word, which means
you have to do it more quickly.
Be sure to leave a comment and let me know how this practice exercise went for you.
Now that you have a better understanding of falling intonation, I want to give you a little warning.
Even though falling intonation is the most common intonation pattern in English, you
have to pay attention to how steep the drop is.
If you're ending every statement with a very, very steep drop, it can signal that you are
being demanding or commanding.
We use steeper, more extreme drops at the end of the sentence in order to signal that
kind of attitude.
Similarly, if you don't have the contrast between stressed and unstressed or reduced
words throughout your sentence, using only falling intonation in your statements can
sound like you're annoyed, disinterested or frustrated.
It can even sound bored.
To get the best results with using falling intonation, you want to make sure
you also practice stress.
You want to make sure you're creating this rise and fall in pitch throughout your sentence.
This is really going to help you sound more like a native English speaker.
It's absolutely essential to master intonation patterns to sound more natural in English,
but you also need to pay attention to your stress because this plays an important role
in Indonesian as well.
Be sure to check out my other videos on intonation patterns in American English.
I've listed them in the cards and also in the description below the video.
If you have any questions on intonation patterns in English, be sure to leave a comment below
the video.
And stay tuned!
There will be more videos on different intonation patterns very soon.
I'll be happy to answer your questions about intonation in future videos.
Once again, I'm Kim from englishwithkim.com.
I'm your guide to the essential conversation skills you need to sound more natural in English.
If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up and share it with a friend.
Have a good one.
Goodbye.