Contents list
I. Interjections
Words that express sounds representing emotions when suddenly surprised, startled, or reacting to an event, thing, or phenomenon:
+ Alas!: Expressing sadness or disappointment. (Oh no! How unfortunate!)
+ Bravo!: Expressing praise or approval. (Well done! Great job!)
+ Good!: Expressing satisfaction or approval. (Great! Alright!)
+ Hello!: Used to greet someone or answer the phone. (Hi! Hello!)
+ Hey!: Used to draw someone's attention. (Hey there!)
+ Hurrah!: Expressing joy or excitement. (Hooray!)
I say!: Used to express surprise or emphasis. (Hey! + Look here!)
+ Nonsense!: Expressing disbelief or disagreement. (Ridiculous! Absurd!)
+ Oh!: Expressing surprise, delight, or realization. (Wow! Oh!)
+ Shame!: Expressing disapproval or criticism. (How shameful!)
+ Stop!: Used to command someone to halt or cease. (Stop! Hold it!)
+ Tut-tut!: Expressing disapproval or annoyance. (Tsk-tsk!)
II. Exclamatory Sentences
An exclamatory sentence expresses a feeling, emotion, or attitude (surprise, admiration, pity, disgust, etc.) of a person toward someone, something, or an event.
Exclamatory forms are often constructed with "HOW, WHAT, SO, SUCH" and negative question structures:
1. Exclamation with "How": HOW + adjective/adverb + S + V!
Examples:
+ How interesting (adj) this gift is! – This gift is so interesting!
+ How cold (adj) it is! – It's so cold!
+ How good it smells! – This food smells so good!
+ How well (adv) she sings! – She sings so well!
Note: (This structure is not exclusive to exclamatory sentences.
Adjective (descriptive words) usually follow verbs like: be (am/is/are/was/were/been), become (turn into), grow (develop), feel (sense), taste (flavor), smell (odor), sound (hear as), look (appear as), seem (appear), appear (look like), remain (stay), stay (stay as).
Adverb (descriptive of actions) is usually placed after verbs.
2. Exclamation with "WHAT"
– For the structure mentioned above, you can add a subject and a verb after the noun phrase. The structure with “What” will be:
What + a/an + adjective + noun + S + V!
Examples:
+ What a big challenge you have! – You are facing such a big challenge
+ What a good picture I saw! – I saw such a beautiful painting!
– WHAT + a/an + adjective + countable noun (singular)!
Examples:
+ What a cute baby! – Such a cute baby!
+ What an interesting film! – Such an interesting movie!
– For plural countable nouns, a/an is not used. The structure becomes: WHAT + adjective + plural countable noun!
plural countable noun!
Examples:
+ What beautiful flowers are! – Such beautiful flowers!
+ What large apartments! – Such large apartments!
– For uncountable nouns, the structure is:
WHAT + adjective + uncountable noun!
Examples:
+ What nice weather! – Such beautiful weather!
3. Exclamation with SO and SUCH:
+ So + adjective
+ Such (+ a/ an) + adjective + noun
Examples:
+ He is so fat! – He’s too fat!
+ It was such a boring speech! – The speech was so boring!
+ She has such an expensive coat! – She has such a costly coat!
4. Negative Question Forms:
Examples:
+ Hasn’t she grown! – She has grown so fast!
+ Isn’t the weather nice! – The weather is so lovely, isn’t it?
