As we have learnt in Unit 3, in Russian, you don’t need to use auxiliary verbs or a different word order for asking yes/no questions. You just need to change the intonation - to raise a tone. For example:

Это Джон.  →   Это Джон?
This is John. →  Is this John?

Они студенты.  → Они студенты?
They are students.  → Are they students?

But there is one important thing to remember. The tone can be raised not necessarily at the end of a sentence, but with any word in the sentence. It depends on what exactly you are asking about. Watch the video with a detailed explanation and examples:

So, when asking a yes/no question, at first, you need to define the focus word. And you pronounce this focus word with a raised pitch, which then drops abruptly. 

Let’s look at some more examples and find the focus word in each question:

1. А: Сергей делает отчёт?
B: Нет, Алексей.

Here, the question is if Sergey is doing the report or somebody else. So, ‘Sergey’ (‘Сергей’) is the focus word and is pronounced with a raised pitch.

2. А: Сергей делает отчёт?
В: Да, делает.

And, here, the focus is on the verb ‘doing’ (‘делает’), because the question is if Sergey is doing a report or not.

3. А: Сергей делает отчёт?
В: Нет, он делает презентацию. (презентация = presentation)

Here, the question is if Sergey is doing the report or something else. So, ‘report’ (‘отчёт’) is the focus word.

Task 1: Find a focus word in each question based on the answer. Read the questions paying attention to the intonation. Then, listen to the audio and check if your intonation is correct.

1. А: Вы говорите по-русски?
В: Да, говорю немного.

2. А: Вы в офисе говорите по-русски?
В: Нет, обычно мы по-английски.

3. А: Ты идёшь на работу?
В: Нет, не иду. Я сегодня (today) не работаю. 

4. А: Ты идёшь домой?
В: Нет, в ресторан.

5. А: Ты утром бегаешь?
В: Нет, вечером.

6. А: Ты утром завтракаешь?
В: Нет, обычно не завтракаю.