I. Ngữ điệu xuống (Falling intonation)

1. Cuối câu nói bình thường, trần thuật, gợi ý (Statements)

Ví dụ:

• She’s a doctor ➘
• I’m going to the supermarket ➘
• My sister bought me a book ➘
• Let’s talk about a few things ➘
• We should have a picnic this weekend ➘
• ...

2. Cuối câu hỏi Wh- (câu hỏi bắt đầu bằng What, Which, When, Where, When, Why, How, Who, Whose) (Wh- questions)

Ví dụ:

• Which one do you prefer? ➘
• What is your number? ➘
• Who’s talking to her? ➘
• Why are you saying that? ➘
• How did you get here? ➘

3. Cuối câu hỏi đuôi, khi người nói khá chắc chắn về câu nói của mình hoặc muốn gợi sự đồng tình (Tag questions)

Ví dụ:

• She’s so pretty, isn’t she? ➘
• Your friend is not very polite, is he? ➘
• Her parents are very wealthy, aren’t they? ➘
• She doesn’t seem to care, does she? ➘
• The test was longer than usual, wasn’t it? ➘

II. Ngữ điệu lên (Rising intonation)

1. Cuối câu hỏi Yes/No (câu hỏi bắt đầu bằng Do, Does, Is, Are, Have, Has, Can, Could, Should, Would, May,…) (Yes/No questions)

• Can you hear me? ➚
• Do you have any suggestion? ➚
• Would you like to try it on? ➚
• Have you done your homework? ➚
• May I have a word? ➚

2. Cuối hỏi đuôi, khi người nói không chắc chắn về câu nói của mình và cần câu trả lời (Tag questions)

Ví dụ:

• You haven’t met him, have you? ➚
• She’s French, isn’t she? ➚
• We still have some soup left in the fridge, don’t we? ➚
• Your brother was at my party last night, wasn’t he? ➚

3. Bày tỏ sự không chắc chắn (Uncertainty)

• She’s new, I guess… ➚
• It’s quite hard, I suppose… ➚
• Your name is Mark…? ➚
• Maybe that’s better…? ➚
• ...

III. Kết hợp xen kẽ ngữ điệu lên – xuống (Mixed)

1. Liệt kê:

Ví dụ:

• I brought some shirts ➚, a dress ➚, and a jacket ➘
• We’ve got apples ➚, pears ➚, oranges ➚, and strawberries➘

2. Exclamations

Ví dụ:

• That’s ama➚zing➘!
• I can’t believe➚  it➘!
• That sounds➘  fun➚!
• Unbelie➚vable➘!