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Intonation Examples

Why is intonation so important, then? We now know how intonation replaces punctuation during verbal exchanges, so let's explore some intonation examples focusing on how intonation can change meaning:

1.) "Enjoy the meal" (note the lack of punctuation).

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  If we apply a falling intonation to the utterance, it becomes clear that it is a statement – "Enjoy the meal." This shows that the speaker is telling the listener to enjoy their meal.
  

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  However, a rising intonation takes the utterance from a statement to a question – "Enjoy the meal?" This shows that the speaker is asking whether the listener enjoyed the meal or not.
  

2.) "You left"

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  With a falling intonation, this phrase becomes the statement "You left." which shows that the speaker is pointing something out to the listener.
  

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  With rising intonation, the phrase becomes a question, "You left?" which shows that the speaker might be confused about the listener's actions/ reasons for leaving or is asking for clarification about the scenario.
  

Intonation vs. Inflection

By now, you should have a good understanding of intonation, but where does inflection come into the picture? This definition about sums it up:

Definition:
Inflection refers to the upward or downward change in pitch of the voice.

This might sound super similar to the definition of intonation, so let's look at it a bit more closely. "Intonation" is basically the all-encompassing term for different inflections. In other words, an inflection is a component of intonation.

Example:
In the question "Where are you from?", there is a downward inflection towards the end of the utterance (on the "from"). This downward inflection illustrates that this question has a falling intonation.