Statements vs. Questions in Speaking

Introduction

A common mistake when translating directly from other languages into English is distinguishing between a question and a statement.

In technical interviews, it’s very important that the interviewer can tell when you are asking a question and when you are stating an assumption.

If this isn’t clear, your question might sound like a confident statement, which could cause confusion or make you seem overly certain.

Questions vs. Statements

In speaking, there are two main ways to show that something is a question:

• Word order

• Intonation

Combining both of these is essential to clearly show that you are asking a question rather than stating a thought or fact.

Word Order

When asking as yes/no question, the auxiliary verb or modal verb should always come first.

Intonation

Intonation is the rise or fall of your voice.

Statements usually have a flat or falling tone at the end.

Questions usually rise in pitch at the end.

This rise signals to the interviewer that you're expecting a response.

In the examples above, the capital letters indicate which part of the word/phrase should be stressed.

The arrows indicate that intonation should rise at the end of the question.