Practice identifying rising and falling intonation in English sentences with this interactive worksheet.

This worksheet is about intonation in English — specifically, whether a sentence uses rising intonation (voice goes up) or falling intonation (voice goes down). Intonation helps convey meaning and can indicate whether a sentence is a question, statement, or request.

Let’s go through each sentence and determine the correct intonation pattern:

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Rules for Intonation:

- Rising intonation (↑) is used in:
- Yes/no questions (e.g., *Is she happy?*)
- Questions that expect a choice or continuation
- Statements where the speaker is unsure or seeking confirmation

- Falling intonation (↓) is used in:
- Wh-questions (e.g., *Where do you live?*, *What are you doing?*)
- Declarative statements (statements of fact)
- Questions with a clear answer expected (especially when it's not yes/no)

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Now let’s analyze each sentence:

1. Is there any coffee in the cup?
→ This is a yes/no question, so it should have rising intonation.
✔ Rising (↑)

2. What are you going to do today?
→ This is a wh-question (asking for information), so it has falling intonation.
✔ Falling (↓)

3. Do you want coffee or tea?
→ This is a yes/no question with options, but because it's offering a choice, it often uses rising intonation.
✔ Rising (↑)

4. What are you doing?
→ Another wh-question → falling intonation.
✔ Falling (↓)

5. Is she happy?
→ A yes/no question → rising intonation.
✔ Rising (↑)

6. Where do you live?
→ A wh-question → falling intonation.
✔ Falling (↓)

7. We need to buy apples, bananas and oranges.
→ This is a statement, not a question → falling intonation.
✔ Falling (↓)

8. I'm going to the store.
→ This is a declarative sentence (statement) → falling intonation.
✔ Falling (↓)

9. Did you have a test yesterday?
→ A yes/no question → rising intonation.
✔ Rising (↑)

10. When did you come to Canada?
→ A wh-question → falling intonation.
✔ Falling (↓)

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✔ Final Answers:

| Sentence | Intonation |
|--------|------------|
| 1. Is there any coffee in the cup? | ↑ (Rising) |
| 2. What are you going to do today? | ↓ (Falling) |
| 3. Do you want coffee or tea? | ↑ (Rising) |
| 4. What are you doing? | ↓ (Falling) |
| 5. Is she happy? | ↑ (Rising) |
| 6. Where do you live? | ↓ (Falling) |
| 7. We need to buy apples, bananas and oranges. | ↓ (Falling) |
| 8. I'm going to the store. | ↓ (Falling) |
| 9. Did you have a test yesterday? | ↑ (Rising) |
| 10. When did you come to Canada? | ↓ (Falling) |

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🔍 Summary:

- Rising intonation: Used mainly in yes/no questions.
- Falling intonation: Used in wh-questions and statements.

> 💡 Tip: In spoken English, even wh-questions sometimes rise slightly at the end if the speaker is uncertain or wants to keep the conversation open, but generally, they fall.

Let me know if you'd like an audio example or further explanation!