Day 4 of 30 Days of Intonation: I don’t know

Today is Day 4, and we're looking at a simple expression that is said so often by native speakers that it has its own recognizable stress pattern:

I don't know.

In fact, we say "I don't know" so often that it becomes condensed to simply "I dunno."

You'll also hear native speakers express the attitude of "not knowing" by simply voicing the SOUND of this intonation pattern and shrugging their shoulders.

That's how unique this intonation pattern is!

After you practice the most common intonation for "I don't know," look at how you can shift the stress in the sentence to change the meaning.

You can suggest that someone else might know, simply by stressing "I", emphasize how much you don't know by stressing "don't", or really show annoyance towards someone who keeps asking you the same question again and again by stressing each word individually.

Here's how to get the most out of this challenge: Watch the video once, and then go back, repeat the video, and pause to practice as many times as necessary.

"I don't know" really illustrates how important intonation is in American English. If you weren't paying attention to intonation before, you are now!

Related Examples: