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English is not a tonal language like Chinese, so rising and falling tones depend more on the context and on the emotions the sentence is trying to express. For example: Why did you do this to me? The emphasis when saying it would be on "why" and then on "do." But it could also be on "me" if the person asking thinks other people were treated better and only the speaker was treated unfairly: Why did you do this to ME? The same with a sentence like How may I help you? There is emphasis on the word "How" and also on "help." But if a sentence is not conveying any emotion, you may find there is no special emphasis on the question word: What are you reading? (The emphasis ends up on the last word-- "reading.") When will we have lunch? (Again, the emphasis is on the last word, "lunch"). Sometimes the question word will be said in a questioning tone of voice, but this is not always the case. Most listeners understand that a question is being asked because they hear the question words (who, what, why, etc).

If English is not your first language, I would advise that you go to a website where you can hear English spoken, and it will become very clear which tones are used when asking a question, and which words receive emphasis. I enclose a link to a very useful site at the Voice of America.

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