How To Ask Questions In English With The Right Intonation (With Examples + Practice Sentences)

Do you like pizza? Do you like pizza? Do you like pizza? Do you like pizza? What’s the correct intonation for this question? Let’s find out. 

 

What’s up guys? My name is Shane and today we are talking about questions and intonation.

 

What is intonation? Intonation is all about the sound and the pitch of your voice. For example. High, low, high, low. 

 

Intonation is very important when asking questions in English because if you get the intonation wrong, your question might not actually sound like a question to a native speaker.

 

Let’s have a look at a quick example.  How do you pronounce this question here? You are, right? You are. No, it should be: you are? You are? You see the intonation goes up. You are? Now you try: you are? 

 

But what if we want to change this question into a statement? What’s the correct intonation? We can say you are. You are. We don’t say you are? Because that’s the question. With the statement, we say you are. You are. The pitch does not go up.

 

But don’t worry if all of this sounds confusing because by the end of the video, you will understand basic intonation for questions in English and make sure you watch until the very end of the video because there will be a quiz to test your understanding. Okay, let’s get started.

 

Yes/no questions

Let’s look at this question. Do you like pizza? Do you like pizza? What’s the answer? It’s either yes or no, right? Yes I do. No I don’t.

 

What about this one? Are you still learning English? Are you still learning English? What’s the answer? It’s either yes I am or no I am not.

 

One more. Will it rain tomorrow? Will it rain tomorrow? What’s the answer? The answer is either yes it will or no it won’t.

 

So let’s look at all of these questions again. What is the same about all of these questions? They are all yes or no questions. The answer to these questions is yes or no. 

 

Let’s listen to the intonation again. Do you like pizza? Do you like pizza? Are you still studying English? Are you still studying English?  Will it rain tomorrow? Will it rain tomorrow? 

 

What is happening with the intonation? The intonation is rising at the end.

 

Do you like pizza? Are you still studying English?  Will it rain tomorrow?

 

So normally when we ask a yes or no question, the intonation will rise.

 

Do you like pizza? Are you still studying English?

 

Now I am going to say some examples and I want you to repeat after me.

 

Are you from Australia? Are you from Australia? Do you like ice cream? Do you like ice cream? Is your name John? Is your name john? Are you going out later? Are you going out later? Did you see the movie? Did you see the movie?

 

So just remember, normally with a yes or no question, we have a rising intonation. 

 

Wh- word questions

Now, listen to these questions. Who is your friend? Who is your friend? What time is the meeting? What time is the meeting?  When is he coming? When is he coming? Where is the park? Where is the park?  Why is he coming late? Why is he coming late? How did he get here? How did he get here?

 

What are the answers for all of these questions? Are they yes or no answers? No they are not.

 

These are question word questions. They use a question word. For example: who, what, when, where, why, how.

 

So listen again for the intonation at the end. Who is your friend?  Who is your friend?  What time is the meeting? What time is the meeting?  When is he coming? When is he coming?

 

Normally, when we make a question with one of the question words in English: who, what, when, where, why or how, the intonation will go down at the end.

 

So listen again. Who is your friend? What time is the meeting?

 

The intonation does not go up like it does with the yes or no questions.

 

Now I am going to say some questions and I want you repeat after me and really think about your intonation on the last word.

 

Who was he? Who was he? What did he do? What did he do?  Where is the bank? Where is the bank?  Why are you laughing? Why are you laughing? How do you make pizza? How do you make pizza?

 

So normally, with questions that start with who, what, when, where, where or how, the intonation will go down at the end. 

 

One word questions

Sometimes in English, we have to make one word become a question. So what intonation do we need for a one word question?

 

Let’s have a look at an example. You’re learning English, right? You’re learning English, right? 

 

What am I doing with the intonation?  You’re learning English, right? 

 

The intonation is going up again. 

 

You’re learning English, right? 

 

And let’s pretend you are with your friend and he says to you: let’s go out now. But you didn’t hear him.  You’re not sure if he said now or later. What one word can you use to make a question? You can say: now? Now?

 

That one word with a rising intonation is a question. It means: do you want to go now?

 

I am going to say a few examples and I want you to repeat after me: today? Today? Really? Really? Right? Right? Me? Me? Him? Him?

 

So those 5 words were all questions. How do we turn them into statements?

 

I will say the correct pronunciation and I want you to repeat after me. Today. Today. Really. Really. Right. Right. Me. Me. Him. Him. 

 

You can see with the intonation, now it’s going down. With the question it goes up.  Right?

 

With the statement, it goes down. Right. 

 

So just remember, the basic rules. If you have a yes or no question, your intonation should go up. Do you like pizza?

 

If you’re making a question word question with who, what, when, where, why, your intonation should go down. What time’s the meeting?  What time is the meeting?

 

And if you’re making a one word question, your intonation should go up.

 

Quiz

So now we have learnt the basic rules for intonation when asking questions in English. Now, let’s have a little quiz to test your understanding. I am going to say a sentence and I want you to tell me: is it right? Or is it wrong? And always think about why.

 

First sentence.  Do you like him.  Do you like him.  This is incorrect because this is a yes or no question and with yes or no questions, our pitch needs to go up. Do you like him?

 

Sentence number 2. What are you doing? What are you doing? This is incorrect because when we use question words, normally the intonation goes down. So it should be, what are you doing? What are you doing?

 

Question number three. Did you go last night? Did you go last night?  This is correct because this is a yes or no question and when we have a yes or no question, intonation goes up. Did you go last night? Did you go last night?

 

Question number four. Where is the restaurant? Where is the restaurant?  This is incorrect because this is a question word question with where. And normally, when we use where, the intonation goes down. Where is the restaurant?  Where is the restaurant? 

 

Now, I will put some questions on the screen. And I want you to pronounce these questions with the correct intonation.

 

Question number 1. It should be are you happy? Are you happy?  This is a yes or no question so the intonation goes up.

 

Question number 2. How was last night? How was last night? This is a question word question again with how, so the intonation should go down at the end.

 

Question number three. When is he coming over?  When is he coming over? We are using a question word again so the intonation should go down at the end. When is he coming over?

 

Question number four.  Do you like ice cream? Do you like cream? This is a yes or no question so the intonation must go up. Do you like cream?

 

And one more question: today? Today?  Remember this is a one word question with a yes or no answer so the intonation must go up.

 

Okay and that is it for today. Thank you so much for watching. Now you know the basics of intonation when asking questions in English? Make sure you practice this many many times so when you speak English and ask questions in English, you won’t have to think about it: it will just come out automatically.

 

And if you’re interested in more common mistake videos, you can check out this video right here.  And if you haven’t subscribed already, make sure you subscribe right now so you don’t miss any video that can help you understand English like a native speaker. If you have any questions, please comment down below. If you liked the video, please hit like and share this with your friends who are learning English. And for more English follow me on Instagram and I will see you in the next video.  And if you’re interested in videos, and if you’re interested in more. What’s up guys? My name is Shane and today we are talking about …