Speaking skills · Lesson 15 of 15
Pronunciation 2: Intonation, connected speech and sounds
Make your voice expressive, join your words together, and pronounce difficult sounds and word endings clearly.
In this lesson you will
- use intonation to show meaning and keep the listener interested
- link words together naturally
- pronounce difficult sounds and word endings clearly
- choose one pronunciation target to work on
Why it matters
Clear, connected and expressive
Higher bands reward speech that flows and sounds expressive. Lower bands describe sounds that make you hard to understand.
| Band | Band descriptor |
|---|---|
| 9 | “Flexible use of features of connected speech is sustained throughout.” |
| 8 | “Uses a wide range of phonological features to convey precise and/or subtle meaning.” |
| 6 | “Some effective use of intonation and stress, but this is not sustained.” “Individual words or phonemes may be mispronounced but this causes only occasional lack of clarity.” |
| 4 | “Individual words or phonemes are frequently mispronounced, causing lack of clarity.” |
Part A
Intonation
Intonation is the music of your voice. A flat voice can sound bored, even when your English is correct.
| Pattern | Use it for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ↘ Falling | Statements, finished ideas and wh- questions | I live in the city. |
| ↗ Rising | Yes/no questions, and items in a list before the last one | Do you live in the city? |
| ↘↗ Fall-rise | An idea that is unfinished or has a “but” behind it | It's quite good… |
Choose the intonation
Think about the end of the part in bold.
- Where do you live?
- Do you enjoy cooking?
- I work in a bank.
- I enjoy swimming, cycling and running.
- I enjoy swimming, cycling and running.
- The food is nice… (but it's very expensive)
Show your feelings
Raise your voice on strong words such as absolutely, really and incredibly. Try saying each sentence with a flat voice, then with lots of expression, and record both.
- It was absolutely amazing.
- I really can't stand it.
- That was an incredibly difficult decision.
Part B
Connected speech
Fluent speakers do not pronounce words one at a time. They join them together. In Speaking, this includes contractions such as I'd and it'll, which are natural here even though you avoid them in academic writing.
| Feature | Example | Listen |
|---|---|---|
| Consonant + vowel | turn‿off, pick‿it‿up | |
| Vowel + vowel | go /w/ out, I /j/ am | |
| Linking /r/ | far /r/ away | |
| A sound disappears | nex(t) week, las(t) night | |
| Sounds change | would you → /wʊdʒu/ |
What happens between the words?
- turn off
- go out
- I am
- far away
- next week
- would you
Part C
Individual sounds
You only need to fix the sounds that make you hard to understand. These cause the most problems:
- th: think, this (put your tongue between your teeth)
- /ɪ/ and /iː/: ship and sheep
- /l/ and /r/; /v/ and /w/: light and right; vest and west
- Word endings: pronounce the final sound, because -s and -ed carry grammar. If the examiner cannot hear them, your grammar may sound wrong too.
Which word do you hear?
Press Listen, then choose the word you hear.
How do you say -ed?
After /t/ or /d/, say /ɪd/. After a voiceless sound such as /k/, /p/, /s/ or /tʃ/, say /t/. Otherwise, say /d/.
- worked
- played
- wanted
- watched
- lived
- decided
How do you say -s?
After /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, /tʃ/ or /dʒ/, say /ɪz/. After a voiceless sound such as /k/, /p/ or /t/, say /s/. Otherwise, say /z/.
- books
- plays
- watches
- works
- goes
- washes
Find the silent letter
Many common words are not pronounced as they are spelled.
- island
- Wednesday
- receipt
- knowledge
- hour
Speaking practice
Record, listen and choose one target
Answer a frequently reported Part 1 question and record yourself. Then choose one thing to work on this week. Working on one target at a time is much more effective than trying to fix everything at once.
- Does my voice go up and down, or is it flat?
- Do I join my words together?
- Can a listener hear my word endings?
- Which sound or word is hardest for me to say clearly?
Press Record, answer out loud, then listen back.
Lesson written for Tips4IELTS. Examples come from our Speaking and Writing model answers.