Rise of Tone, we use with direct questions

Answer 1

Hi Aaditya,

Your question is a good one. Rising and falling tones are part of the toolkit a speaker has to make meaning.

For yes/no questions, where the answer to the question is a simple yes or no, we need to use a rising voice at the end of the question:

1.     Do I have your phone number?

2.     Can I meet you later?

3.     Is your car parked in the garage?

For a wh- question (what, when, how, where, who, etc.) where the answer is a piece of information, we use falling intonation, and we use a falling voice on the final stressed syllable.

1.     What time do you have?

2.     Where are you off to?

3.     How much do those eggs cost?

I hope this is helpful to you!

~Cheri