Intonation is the variation in pitch when speaking. There are two basic intonation patterns: rising and falling. Rising intonation uses a rising pitch at the end and is used for questions expecting yes/no answers, exclamations, and listing items. Falling intonation uses a rising pitch earlier in the sentence followed by a falling pitch at the end, and is used for wh- questions, commands, and statements. An example dialogue demonstrates rising intonation being used for a choice question and falling intonation being used for statements.