if you want to improve your English pronunciation sound more like a native speaker and make yourself understood better then you have to learn about intonation hello I'm Maddie from POC English and in this lesson we are going to talk about intonation in English pronunciation before we start if you want to receive the lesson summary of this video and my future videos in a single PDF file whenever I post a new video on YouTube you can simply give me your email address but how click on the link above my head go to my website enter your email address and click subscribe you will receive my lesson summaries for free in the form of a PDF file so what is intonation to put it simply intonation is The Melody of spoken English it is the way in which your voice Rises and falls as you speak let me show you an example I am watching this video to improve my English I am watching this video to improve my English see now why does intonation matter intonation is not just to add Beauty to your speech it can change the meaning of what you say for one thing intonation can highlight the central point in a sentence Rising the ination on a certain word in a sentence can show that that word is the center of the message that you want to deliver with that sentence for example I like to play tennis I like to play tennis I like to play tennis I like to play tennis if I say that I like to play tennis it means that it's me who wants to play tennis not you not him not her if I say I like to play tennis it means I like it I don't hate it the central point is like if I say I like to play tennis it means that I want to play it I don't want to watch it and if I say I like to play tennis it means I like to play tennis I don't want to play soccer as you can see the same sentence could have four different meanings just by raising my tone of voice on a specific word in that sentence for another thing intonation can show attitude it can reflect the attitude of the speaker for example if you are happy you tend to raise your voice and if you are sad you lower it let me give you an example if I am happy I would say I want to play tennis if I am sad I would say I want to play tennis you see so the intonation and the loudness of my voice can show the attitude even though my face does not change I want to play tennis I want to play tennis now if you add intonation to some facial expressions then you can deliver a very concise message I want to play tennis I want to play tennis now let's learn about intonation patterns there are three main intonation patterns look at this example do you like tennis I don't play tennis but I like it one more time do you like tennis do you like tennis I don't play tennis I don't play tennis but I like it I like it in this sentence you can see three different intonation patterns the first one is a rising intonation do you like tennis tennis tennis repeat after me tennis so your voice Rises do you like tennis the second one is a fall rise intonation which means first your voice Falls and then it rises I don't play tennis repeat after me I don't play tennis I don't play tennis and the third one is falling intonation which means your tone of voice falls down but I like it I like it I like it I don't say I like it no I like it so let's read the sentence again repeat after me do you like tennis I don't play tennis but I like it now it is time to learn more about these patterns and see when to use which one of them in order to improve your pronunciation and speak more clearly the first pattern is falling intonation falling intonation we use it when we are talking about something which will definitely happen or that is complete so use it when you were certain of something let's have a look at some examples I have to work I have to work repeat after me and notice that the last word has a falling intonation it means my voice comes down I have to work this is for sure I'm certain of it I have to work I have to work let's see another example here's your book here's your book pay attention here's your book I couldn't find it I couldn't find it I couldn't find it I finished my homework I finished my homework I finish my homework I want to see you tomorrow I want to see you tomorrow I want to see you tomorrow so we use the following intonation when we are sure and certain of something or to talk about something which is complete falling intonation is also very common in wh questions for example what time does the movie begin what time does the movie begin as you can see as I get to the end of the sentence my tone of voice falls down what time does the movie begin where is the nearest bus St where's the nearest bus stop where's the nearest bus stop why do you study English why do you study English why do you study English the next pattern is rising intonation Rising intonation is very common in yes no questions your voice Rises when you get to the end of the question for example is he sad listen up is he sad I don't say is he sad no is he sad it's a yes no question yes he is no he isn't is he sad is she our doctor is she our doctor is she our doctor did they call did they call did they call now look at this question are you watching the movie or not this is called an alternative question because you have two Alternatives one before or and one after or when you have or in a question that's an alternative question and when you have an alternative question before or you have a rising intonation and after or you have a falling intonation so let's read this question again together are you watching the movie or not are you watching the movie or not are you watching the movie or not another example is he sitting or standing is he sitting or standing are they coming or going are they coming or going and the third pattern of intonation is a fall rise intonation which has a fall and then is followed by a rise in your tone of voice we use this when something is incomplete or we are uncertain of something or we still want to continue the sentence and the sentence is not finished yet look look at this I'm tired I'm tired this is a simple falling intonation which means I'm talking about something that I am sure of and the sentence is complete I'm tired but look at this one I'm tired but let's go out and have some fun I'm tired I'm tired but let's go out and have some fun the first part of the sentence has a fall rise intonation I'm tired which means the sentence is not not complete yet I still want to continue the sentence I want to show contrast I'm tired but let's go out and have some fun look at this one I don't play tennis I don't play tennis this is a falling intonation because I'm sure of it I don't play tennis but look at this one I don't play tennis but I like watching it I don't play tennis but I like watching it the first half of the sentence has a fall rise intonation on the word tennis I don't play tennis which means the sentence is not complete yet and I want to show contrast I don't play tennis but I like watching it in these two examples the fall rise intonation was on one word tennis tired it's also possible that the fall rise intonation are separately on two different words so one word with the falling and one word with the rising intonation that is also called the fall rise intonation this fall rise intonation shows that my sentence is not complete and I want to talk about a contrasting point the first week was good but the second week was terrible the first week has a falling intonation was good as a rising intonation this is a fall rise intonation and it shows that the sentence is not complete the first week was good but the second week was terrible or look at this one she she's quite a good teacher she's quite a good teacher the intonation shows that the sentence is not complete and by hearing this sentence your mind immediately looks for a butt listen to it again she's quite a good teacher okay but she's quite a good teacher but she's a bit old she's quite a good teacher but she's a bit old on the adverb quite we have a falling intonation she's quite a good teacher on the word teacher we have a rising intonation she's quite a good teacher and that's it guys we have learned about three patterns of intonation falling rising and the fall rise intonation and we have learned how intonation can help us improve our pronunciation sound more like a native speaker and make ourselves understood better and don't forget if you want to receive the lesson summary of this video with all other future videos when I post them on YouTube in your email in a PDF file click on the link above my head go to my website enter your email address and hit subscribe see you [Music]