Intonation is one of the most important aspects to master if we want to understand and reproduce native-like spoken English. It constitutes one of the key elements that will help us understand that feared fast-talking every foreign student claims to have a hard time decoding. Here is one important piece of information that will help us unravel what seems to puzzle every non native speaker. The thing is that intonation is a distinctive feature of every language.

There are three faces to thoroughly understanding language. Grammar is one face, semantics is another and phonetics the final one. Intonation refers to the semantic side of language. So, it is easy to conclude that even though a student might have a fairly broad knowledge of the English vocabulary, and even in the case he gets to build fairly decent grammatically correct structures, if he lacks the proper domain of intonation, he will never thoroughly master the English language.

Let us try the following simple exercise. Take a sentence like “I am not walking to school tomorrow”.

1. The normal intonation would be achieved by stressing the word “school”. This is only one of the many options. It constitutes a simple assertive sentence, a piece of information, regarding to what I am planning to do tomorrow.

2. Try placing the stress on “walking”. Now the meaning has changed. I am opposing “walking” to other means of transportation. For instance, I plan to ride my bike to school tomorrow. So the whole paragraph might be “I am not walking to school tomorrow, I'll ride my bike”.

3. Now place the stress on I: “I am not walking to school tomorrow”. In this case, the difference is established on who is walking to school tomorrow. For example: “I am not walking to school tomorrow, Peter is.”

4. Finally, stress the word “school”, i.e: “I am not walking to school tomorrow”. The idea might be completed like this “...but I am walking to my gym class”.

As you see, it is a very simple exercise that will allow you to provide with broader and correct meaning to your sentences.

Another aspect to consider is falling or rising intonation to the sentences. Let's give it a try to “I do” -don't get too excited, I am not planning to walk you down the isle. “I do”, with a falling intonation states a simple truth, is an declarative sentence, a statement. Whereas “I do”, with a rising intonation constitutes a question, a response given in disbelief, awe or surprise. “I do?, don't be a fool, you know better than that!”

Structures known as question tags also have a distinct intonation. Unlike simple questions, that carry a rising intonation, question tags mimic a question, when they are only emphasizers, seeking confirmation of the listener. For example: “That is you wife, isn't she?” This means, I have a high suspicion that that beauty over there is your wife, because of the way she looks at you, etc. I am only seeking confirmation on your part. In consequence, question tags never carry a rising intonation.