Surprise
In this example, how does speaker Y indicate surprise?
X: She has twelve cats.
Y: She has twelve cats?
The Rule:
You can show surprise or disbelief by using rising pitch to echo a statement. The pitch rise is usually on the stressed syllable of the last content word.
Now you....
Predict the rising or falling patterns in the dialogues below. Roll your mouse over the words to see the answers. When you are finished, listen to the speaker and repeat the dialogues.
Conversation 1
X: I failed biology
.
Y: You failed biology?
Conversation 2
X: John was in an accident.
Y: He was in an accident? Was he hurt?
Conversation 3
X: My parents are letting me go to the beach.
Y: They're letting you go?
