Compare a usual statement: “You are so clever.” with “How clever you are!” or “How clever!”
Exclamative ‘what’ can precede the indefinite article and is, therefore, a predeterminer. Here’s an example: What a surprise! Listen In the English Grammar Profile, A2 point 38 in the category of CLAUSES/exclamations: ‘What a’ + noun phrase and ‘What a’ + noun phrase + clause However, in the English Vocabulary Profile, ‘what’ is listed at B1 …
In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 62 in the category of CLAUSES/phrases/exclamations is defined as: ‘How’ + adjective. A search in iWeb for: How _JJ ! 1 HOW EXCITING ! 1276 2 HOW FUN ! 799 3 HOW COOL ! 563 4 HOW CUTE ! 498 5 HOW WONDERFUL ! 427 6 HOW BEAUTIFUL ! 291 …
An ‘exclamation’ means: a remark expressing surprise or strong emotion. How wonderful that you came. How nice to see you! In the English Grammar Profile, B1 point 48 in CLAUSES phrases/exclamations is defined as: ‘HOW’ + ADJECTIVE + CLAUSE A search in iWeb for: . How _JJ _P _V 1 . HOW IMPORTANT IT IS 103 2 . HOW LUCKY WE ARE 97 …
An exclamative sentence can start with the intensifier ‘How‘ which is ‘fronted’ without inversion. For example: How I wish I could do that. Listen C2 point 128 CLAUSES phrases/exclamations is defined as: HOW + CLAUSE *Note, How + cleft clause is also C2. This is another hard to research structure in iWeb because of the variable length of clauses. 1 . …
Point 121 in CLAUSES phrases/exclamations at C2 is defined as: ‘HOW’ + ADVERB + CLAUSE A search on iWeb for . How *ly _P 1 . HOW QUICKLY YOU 126 *most of these are not exclamations. But there are a few examples of: How quickly you forget. 2 . HOW QUICKLY WE 104 1 . HOW QUICKLY …
In the English Grammar Profile, B2 point 86 in the category of CLAUSES is defined as: phrases or exclamations where the negative interrogative form of an auxiliary verb is used to express surprise or enthusiasm. This is a real challenge to search for. Surprise and enthusiasm is not something you can formally search for, but …
