Four Types of English Intonation

English has four basic types of intonation. They are rising, falling, rising-falling and falling-rising. Let us look at examples of each.

In yes-no questions, rising intonation is common. For example, Can you play the piano? is a question with rising intonation.

However, in wh-questions, falling intonation is common. This type of intonation is used in the question Where are you from?

Another type of intonation is rising-falling. It is common with lists of information. In the sentence I bought apples, bananas and oranges, the intonation rises at the beginning of the sentence and falls when the speakers says the noun oranges.

The last type of intonation is falling-rising. It is often used when the speaker is not sure of what he/she is saying. This is the case with the question It's not true, is it? The use of rising intonation at the end implies uncertainty. However, if the speaker uses falling intonation from start to finish, then he/she is merely confirming information.

The four basic types of intonation in English are rising, falling, rising-falling and falling-rising. Intonation is important because it can convey differences in meaning. The most common types are rising and falling.