Day 6: Are you serious?

Day 6 of 30 Days of Intonation: Are you serious?

On Day 6 of 30 Days of Intonation, we're going to look at a question that Americans often use to show doubt, shock, surprise, and excitement:

Are you serious?

Learn how to raise your pitch and tone to show different levels of enthusiasm.

Yes, this is why women can often sound like they are squeaking or shrieking when showing extreme excitement!

Men also raise their pitch to show excitement and disbelief by starting at a higher baseline and raising up from there. Since their voices are lower, the difference might not be quite as noticeable as in my example, but if you listen carefully, you'll still hear it.

(Watch a comedian like Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, or Stephen Colbert to hear what I mean.)

You can also drop your tone to show disbelief or doubt, and keep your intonation low, flat, or slightly wavy to show annoyance.

Watch the video once, and then go back, repeat the video, and pause to practice as many times as necessary.

This video really shows how native speakers like me change our pitch and communicate so much through our voices rather than our words.

It may sound a little unusual to you if this isn't how tone works in your language, but this is completely natural and expected in English!

Related Examples:

  • Are you for real?
  • Are you kidding?