Listening

Intonation & Sentence Melody

6 articles to help you master this topic

Emphasis and Contrast: ICH Will, Nicht Du! Tips

German uses strong stress (Betonung) to highlight the important or contrasting part of a sentence.

Many learners (especially native English speakers) struggle with a specific intonation problem when speaking German:

German W-questions:

In German, most statements end with a falling pitch.

German yes/no questions (Ja/Nein-Fragen) typically:

Intonation = the melody of speech.