Day 13 of 30 Days of Intonation: Where have you been?

For Day 13 of 30 Days of Intonation, we're going to review the intonation pattern in a common information question and see how we can change it:

Where have you been?

Like we discussed on Day 12, the rise and fall of this information question will be on the final word, "been."

(I really want to be sure you understand the falling intonation on information questions, so be sure to listen carefully!)

From there, we discuss changing the stress in the question, emphasizing the word "where" and "you" to achieve different meanings.

Remember, the word that receives the most stress in a sentence or question is considered to be the most important, which is why it can completely change the question's meaning!

We talk about how intonation can show anger or annoyance with a noticeable fall, or amusement and teasing with wavy intonation and lengthened words.

Last but not least, I explain the sarcastic meaning of the question and some conversations where you might hear people use this expression.

This is one of my favorite videos because it really shows you how YOU can control and change the meaning of the question with stress and intonation, depending on your goals.

Related Examples: