Statements vs questions in English
A common mistake when speaking English as a second language is that your questions can sound like statements. In a technical interview, this matters — if the interviewer cannot tell whether you are asking a question or confirming a fact, it causes confusion.
A common mistake when speaking English as a second language is that your questions can sound like statements. In a technical interview, this matters — if the interviewer cannot tell whether you are asking a question or confirming a fact, it causes confusion.
The difference between a statement and a question
In English, there are two main ways to signal that something is a question: word order and intonation.
| Statement | Question |
|---|---|
| The input is always sorted. | Is the input always sorted? |
| I should consider edge cases. | Should I consider edge cases? |
| We can use built-in functions. | Can we use built-in functions? |
| The array contains only positive numbers. | Does the array contain only positive numbers? |
Intonation
In spoken English, your voice usually rises at the end of a question. This rising tone signals to the listener that you are expecting a response. For statements, your voice usually stays flat or falls slightly at the end. If you speak English with a flatter intonation (common in many languages), practise this pattern: let your voice go up on the last stressed word of a question.
Statement vs question practice pairs
- Statement: "The input will always be a positive integer." / Question: "Will the input always be a positive integer?"
- Statement: "I should handle the empty string case." / Question: "Should I handle the empty string case?"
- Statement: "We can assume the data is already sorted." / Question: "Can we assume the data is already sorted?"
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