tone of voice
Loading your saved state.
tone of voice
The way the voice sounds when speaking, especially the melody and stress of the voice, which often expresses a particular emotion or attitude.
An seinem spöttischen Tonfall merkte ich sofort, dass er es nicht ernst meinte.
From his mocking tone of voice, I immediately noticed that he was not serious.
The word is made up of 'Ton' (tone) and 'Fall' (fall). Figuratively, it describes how the 'melody' of the voice 'falls' at the end of a sentence or word and thus conveys a particular emotion.
Sein fragender Tonfall verriet seine Unsicherheit.
His questioning tone of voice revealed his uncertainty.
Very often, 'Tonfall' (tone of voice) is used with the preposition 'an' and the dative to express what lets you recognize an emotion or intention. The typical structure is 'an jemandem/jemandes Tonfall etwas merken/erkennen' (to notice/recognize something from someone's tone of voice).
Ich habe an ihrem Tonfall sofort erkannt, dass etwas nicht stimmte.
I immediately recognized from her tone of voice that something was wrong.
'Tonfall' (tone of voice) is often described with adjectives that express an emotion or attitude. Common examples are a friendly, sharp, ironic, factual, or annoyed tone of voice.
Bitte sprich in einem freundlicheren Tonfall mit mir.
Please speak to me in a friendlier tone of voice.
tone / clay
'der Ton' and 'der Tonfall' can both describe how someone speaks and what attitude can be heard in it. 'Der Ton' is a bit more general: it can also mean the style or manner in a conversation or text, for example friendly, strict, or rude. 'Der Tonfall' refers more specifically to the voice when speaking, that is, to stress and intonation. Learners may confuse the words because both can express feelings. When it is about the actual voice, 'Tonfall' fits especially well. When it is more generally about the style of communication, 'Ton' is more natural.
An ihrem Tonfall merkte ich sofort, dass sie enttäuscht war.
I could tell from her tone of voice right away that she was disappointed.
Im Gespräch mit dem Kunden war der Ton zuerst freundlich, später aber sehr direkt.
In the conversation with the customer, the tone was friendly at first, but later very direct.