Practice Makes Perfect

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Basic exclamatory sentences

Exclamatory sentences communicate strong feelings. The speaker often adds voice 

modulation and facial expressions to stress emotions. Exclamatory sentences are 

more common in speech than in writing.

There are three basic ways of expressing yourself in an exclamatory manner 

in French. You may use a declarative sentence and add intonation (an exclamation 

mark in writing), or start a sentence with one of the conjunctions que or comme 

followed by the declarative sentence.

Ce souper est délicieux! 

Supper is delicious! (intonation)

Que tu es gentil! 

How nice you are!

Comme il fait froid! 

How cold it is!

Declarative sentence with intonation or punctuation

With the appropriate punctuation you can use declarative sentences to express 

strong feelings. For some, a definition of an exclamatory sentence in English and 

in French alike is a forceful declarative sentence that shows strong emotion. In 

writing, an exclamation mark ends the sentence.