• araozu@lemm.ee
        ·
        8 months ago

        In spanish questions intonation changes occur only on the last word(s), not the whole sentence. I'm not a linguistic, but I think it's so you can be sure a sentence is a question from the start.

        When reading english sometimes I assume a sentence is an affirmation until I see the question mark, and then I have to reinterpret the sentence. I wonder how it is for native english speakers. Do they assume nothing until the sentence is finished?

        • lorty@lemmy.ml
          ·
          8 months ago

          You are indeed right, my explanation was poor. But for other languages it is very common to get surprised at the end of sentences, yes.