Exclamations
A2 · ElementarySentence Structure & ClausesWhat a beautiful day! How wonderful! Two fixed patterns turn a strong reaction into a grammatical exclamation.
What you'll learn
- 'What' + a/an (for singular countable nouns) + adjective + noun + ! — What a beautiful day!
- 'What' + adjective + plural/uncountable noun + ! (no article) — What nonsense! What lovely flowers!
- 'How' + adjective or adverb + ! — How wonderful! How fast she runs!
- An exclamation always ends with an exclamation mark, and the word order stays statement order — no inversion
Two fixed patterns
English has two ready-made patterns for turning a strong reaction into an exclamation: 'What a/an + noun!' for reacting to a thing, and 'How + adjective/adverb!' for reacting to a quality.
'What' + noun
With a singular countable noun, 'What' is followed by a/an, then the noun (with an optional adjective in between). With a plural or uncountable noun, there's no article at all.
'How' + adjective/adverb
'How' reacts to a quality rather than a thing, so it's followed directly by an adjective or an adverb — never a noun, and never with an article.
Real English
Watch out
'What' + a singular countable noun needs the article a/an — 'day' is singular and countable.
'How' is followed by an adjective or adverb, never a noun — use 'What' for reacting to a thing.
'What' introduces a noun phrase; when reacting to a quality alone (an adjective or adverb with no noun), use 'How' instead.
Real life — Opening a gift
"Go ahead, open it!"
"Oh, wow — what a beautiful bracelet!"
"I'm so glad you like it."
"How thoughtful of you — thank you!"
Practice
Exercise 1 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 2 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 3 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 4 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 5 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 6 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 7 · Choose the correct exclamation
Choose the correct exclamation.
Exercise 8 · Choose the exclamation, not the question
Choose the sentence that is an exclamation, not a question.
Exercise 9 · Turn into an exclamation with 'What'
Turn into an exclamation with 'What': 'This is a great idea.'
Exercise 10 · Turn into an exclamation with 'How'
Turn into an exclamation with 'How': 'This is so kind of you.'
Exercise 11 · Sort into groups
0 / 6 sorted
Quick challenge
Five quick questions to check what stuck.
Question 1 / 5
Score: 0/0
Choose the correct exclamation.
You learned
- 'What' + a/an (singular countable) + adjective + noun + ! — What a beautiful day!
- 'What' + adjective + plural/uncountable noun + ! (no article) — What lovely flowers!
- 'How' + adjective or adverb + ! — How wonderful! How fast she runs!
- Word order stays statement order — no inversion, just an exclamation mark.
Related grammar lessons
Phrases vs Clauses
Learn the basic difference between a phrase (no subject + verb) and a clause (has a subject + verb) — the building blocks of every sentence.
Sentence Types
Learn the four sentence types by purpose — declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory — and how each is marked in writing.
Clauses
Learn independent vs. dependent clauses, and how combining them builds simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.
Sentence Elements
Learn to identify the building blocks of a clause — Subject, Verb, Object, Complement, and Adverbial.