English voice pattern for lists and series

Fall, winter, spring, and summer.  

In English, we need to use a special voice pattern when we say a list or series like the one above.  

The voice pitch must rise on each item of the list until the last item. On the last item, the voice pitch rises, and then, falls.  

New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.  

In this phrase, the voice starts low at the beginning of each list item. The voice ends with a rising pitch for the first two items (New York and Los Angeles).  On the final item of the list (Chicago), the voice rises, but then falls in pitch, ending low.

Click on the short video above to hear this distinctive voice pattern.  

An accent training program at Confident Speech includes learning how to use the voice correctly for different phrase and sentence patterns.  Explore our web site to find out about the range of our training options.  Or contact us.