Lesson 26. Intonation of agreeing and disagreeing

Lesson 26. Intonation of agreeing and disagreeing

When we agree with the other person, our voice often goes down at the end. We tell the other person our opinion, confident they will not be upset.

Listen to this conversation. Notice that the voices go down at the end of each line.

A: Football’s so boring, isn’t it ?

B: Yeah, I know. I hate it.

A: I mean, it’s just 22 people running after a ball.

B: Yeah, how can that be interesting ?

A: No, golf’s much more fun, isn’t it ?
Note: The expression isn’t it ? is called a question tag. When we use question tags to tell someone our opinion, the voice goes down at the end.
But when we disdabree, our voice often goes up at the end, so our opinion sounds unfinished and less strong, because we do not want to upset the other person.

Listen to the rest of the conversation from A. Notice how the voices go up at the end of each line.

B: Well …

A: you like golf, don’t you?

B: It’s alright I suppose …

A: You don’t sound very sure.

B: Well, I guess I’m not really a sporting person, you know.

Note: The expression don’t you? is a question tag. When we use question tags to check information, the voice goes down at the end.
We can say the same sentence, but change the meaning by changing how we say it.

Listen to these two examples. The speaker in 1 is telling his opinion clearly. The speaker in 2 is leaving something unsaid, you feel he is going to continue with but …

1 I think they’re good. (That is my opinion.)

2 I think they’re good … (They’re not too bad, but there’s a reason why I don’t like them.)

We can also change the meaning of a question tag by changing how we say it. Listen to these conversations.

A: It’s too hot, isn’t is ? (opinion)

B: Yeah, let’s open the window!

A: We sometimes have snow in Morocco.

B: But it’s too hot, isn’t it ? (check question)

A: No, not in the mountains.
Listen. Are these speaker’s real opinions, or can you ‘hear’ a but ? write a (.) or (, but) after each line.

Example. I like tennis , but

1 It’s nice ________

2 We’re quite good ___________

3 Yes, it is ____________

4 I don’t know _________

5 Yes ___________

6 He does ___________

7 she likes you _______

8 They’re friendly ________

9 Not bad __________

Follow up: Record yourself saying these sentences. Use your recording to do this exercise again in about two weeks.

Listen to the four short conversations about the thing in the pictures. Are the speakers agreeing or disagreeing? Write agreeing or disagreeing under each picture.

Complete each sentence with an ending from the box. Then decide f they are opinions or check questions and draw line in the boxes, then listen and check.

is it? isn’t it? is she? isn’t he? are you? aren’t they?

was it? wasn’t he? don’t you? doesn’t it? have you?

Lesson 27