​Rising and falling intonation

​a) Open questions usually take a rising intonation at the end, e.g.:

Are you free today? Is it due tomorrow? Have you ever taught that level?

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b) Wh-questions usually take a falling intonation at the end, e.g.:

Where have you been lately?Why did you choose that activity?

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c) Afirmative and negative statements usually take a falling intonation at the end, e.g.:

I find it hard to teach pronunciation. You don't have to teach every sound for students to be comprehensible.

​Rhythm and stress

A rule of thumb for rhythm is to stress content words. Content words are mainly: nouns,verbs, adjectives, adverbs, wh-question words and negatives.

​The words that are not stressed are function words.

• ​I have a couple of things to discuss.

• ​Do you think the activity will suit basic students?

• ​What a great idea!

• ​I can't see anything from this old photocopy.

Reading activity

Read the following article on the rhythm of the language. Choose the best option to answer the questions. ​

​https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/rhythm

Thank you​

​Have a great day