• araozu@lemm.ee
    ·
    1 year 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
      ·
      1 year 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.