On Day 11 of 30 Days of Intonation, we're going to look a short sentence that is often used to react when listening to another person share news or tell a story:

I can't believe it

Because this sentence expresses disbelief literally with the word "believe," you can say it with neutral, default sentence intonation. For this reason, we start this video by reviewing the standard rise/fall at the end of a normal sentence.

In sentence intonation, our voice rises on the last content word of the sentence, which is "believe," and then drops to signal the end of the sentence (in this case, on the word "it.")

If we want to emphasize disbelief, we can put extra stress and emphasis on the word "can't" or make it even stronger by adding an adverb like "really," "truly," or "just."

As we discussed in yesterday's video, you can also raise your pitch at the end of the sentence to express surprise and excitement. This will change the meaning of the exclamation and make it positive and supportive.

You can also start high and drop your intonation fairly flat in order to show doubt and disbelief, suggesting that the other person may be lying or repeating a story that isn't true.

Finally, you can change your intonation to show sympathy. This tone is a little trickier to hear, so listen carefully to hear the difference. You'll notice that the concerned facial expression helps you achieve this sympathetic tone!

Related Examples: