Exclamatory phrases express all sorts of emotion like surprise, admiration, fright, or anger. One of the things that makes a sentence exclamatory is the exclamation mark.
Génial !
Awesome!
However, not all sentences with an exclamation mark are exclamatory sentences. For example, greetings, such as Bonjour(Hello) ! are not, and neither are commands in the French imperative mood. Remember, exclamatory sentences must convey a feeling.
Some grammatical rules need to be memorized to use French exclamations like a native. In this post we’ll learn some special words like comme(how) or quel(what) that often introduce exclamations. We’ll also study word order, which can be quite different from English, of adjectives, and use of prepositions, among others. The best thing about exclamatory sentences is that you can have a say in all kinds of situations!
Comme je suis contente que vous lisiez cet article !
How happy I am that you are reading this article!
In French, there are lots of ways to form exclamations. However they broadly fall into two main groups:
Exclamations with a conjugated verb → verbal exclamations
Quels enfants polis vous avez !
What polite children you have!
In French, this verb is most often in the present tense but it can also be followed by other tenses, like the perfect and future tenses.
Exclamations without a conjugated verb → nominal exclamations
Quel temps!
What weather!
Let’s look at some of the main phrases and sentence structures that are used to create French exclamatory sentences!
You can use quel + noun at the beginning of an exclamation about a noun or noun phrase. The adjective quel(what) will agree in gender and number with the noun it introduces.
Quel temps!
What weather!
Quelle horreur !
lit. What a horror!
Number/gender | Masculine | Feminine |
|---|---|---|
Singular | quel | quelle |
Plural | quels | quelles |
→ Learn our useful French exclamatory phrases for everyday life!
Remember that adjectives in French are mostly placed after the noun, with a few exceptions. When adding adjectives to these exclamatory sentences, most of them will follow this pattern.
Quel spectacle original !
What a unique show!
But with the exceptional adjectives, the order is reversed:
Quel joli spectacle !
What a beautiful show!
Quel can be used to introduce nominal or verbal exclamations
Nominal (no verb)
Quel temps!
What weather!
Verbal (with a verb)
Quels enfants polis vous avez !
What polite children you have!
In a verbal exclamation, the subject is placed differently depending on whether it is a pronoun or a noun phrase:
If the subject of the verb is a subject pronoun, it will come before the verb:
Quels enfants polis vous avez !
What polite children you have!
If the subject is a noun (or noun phrase) the it will most naturally come after the verb instead:
Quel chien énorme ont les voisins !
What an enormous dog the neighbors have!
Because quel + object starts the sentence, that means that the object comes before the verb. This means that when an exclamation with quel uses a compound tense with the avoir, the will always agree with the noun after quel:
Quelle frayeur j’ai eue !
What a fright I had!
Here’s how to report a quel + noun exclamation in indirect reported speech!
A way to report that someone said or thought an exclamatory sentence introduced by quel, is to use a verb expressing the emotion conveyed in the direct speech and add a couple of details to set the context.
Direct reported speech | Indirect reported speech |
|---|---|
« Quelle beauté ! » What beauty! | Il s’est émerveillé de la beauté du tableau. He was blown away by the beauty of the painting. |
Combien de and que de can be used before a noun to exclaim about the size of the amount of that noun. For example:
Que de compliments !
How flattering!
lit. (lit. So many compliments!)
Often, you can use a modifying clause after de + noun. Here, the word order is the same as in English.
Combien d’heures on a pu passer au téléphone !
How many hours we’ve spent chatting on the phone!
Comme(how), qu’est-ce que(what is it that), (ce) que(what, which), and combien(how much, how many) can all be used to create exclamations by placing them before a full declarative sentence. For example:
French Exclamation | Translation |
|---|---|
Comme je suis contente de te voir ! | How happy I am to see you! |
Qu’est-ce que je suis contente de te voir | |
Combien je suis contente de te voir ! | |
(Ce) que je suis contente de te voir ! |
Do you see the difference between the English and French word order?
English order: How happy I am → “how” comes right before the adjective
French order: How I am happy. → “how” comes before a full sentence
Let’s talk about a couple of these words/phrases in particular:
You may recognize that qu’est-ce que and combien, because they are commonly used in French questions. In exclamatory sentences they express a rather strong emotion.
Combien is not used as much nowadays.
Que can introduce exclamations, but can also come at the beginning of a non-exclamative sentence. When que is followed by the French subjunctive, the sentence will express a wish or indirect command instead.
Qu’il s’en aille s’il n’est pas content !
He can leave if he’s unhappy!
Let’s have a look at one of the most famous sentences introduced by que. Do you recognize it?
Que la force soit avec toi !
May the force be with you!
In indirect reported speech, comme, qu’est-ce que, ce que, and combien can all be expressed with combien or à quel point(how much).
Direct reported speech | Indirect reported speech |
|---|---|
« Qu’est-ce que tu peux être rabat-joie ! » What a killjoy you can be! | Elle a dit à quel point (= combien) je pouvais être rabat-joie. She said what a killjoy I was. |
The mais(but) can be used at the start of an exclamatory sentence to express intensity. It can be translated as “but” and also “literally” in English.
Mais tu dis n’importe quoi !
But you are talking nonsense! / You are literally talking nonsense!
When you are elated and want to scream and show support, vive(long live) and allez(go) are the perfect words for the situation!
Vive + noun
The phrase vive, followed by a noun, is the equivalent of “long live” + noun or “hurray for” + noun.
Vive l’amitié!
Hurray for friendship!
Vive is invariable, so its form is not affected by whether the noun that follows is singular or plural.
Vive les mariés !
Long live the bride and groom!
Allez + noun/name
The invariable phrase allez (which is technically the vous conjugation of the verb aller), followed by a name or noun, is a way to encourage someone.
Allez Simon !
Go Simon!
Allez les filles !
You go girls!
The phrase et dire que (to think that) is usually followed by a past tense phrase and is a way of expressing hindsight, regret, and disappointment.
Et dire que j’avais tout préparé !
To think that I had everything prepared!
Sometimes you can form an exclamation by using changing the position of the subject and the verb in a sentence, as if you are creating a French formal question.
subject
verb
object
↓
verb
subject
object
If you put an exclamation mark at the end instead of a question mark, you’ll have an exclamation that expresses feelings like admiration or frustration.
Sont-ils accueillants !
How welcoming they are!
N’est-il pas insupportable !
How unbearable he is!
Using a subject + a descriptive phrase (usually an adjective or French infinitive) expresses disbelief or surprise at the unlikelihood of a situation.
Papa, mentir !
Dad, lying? (No way!)
→ subject + infinitive
The subject can be a stressed pronoun, a name, or a noun. Adding jamais( never) after these types of exclamations adds a bit of drama or determination.
Moi, jaloux, jamais !
Me, jealous? Never!
→ subject + adjective
When making exclamations in French, keep the following tips in mind:
All sentences with an exclamation mark are not necessarily exclamatory. Exclamatory sentences must express a feeling.
Exclamatory sentences often start with introductory words like the adjective quel(what) or the adverbs combien, qu’est-ce que, ce que, comme, which all express “how.”
When using an adverb, just add a declarative sentence followed by an exclamation mark.
Now you can practice these various ways of expressing feelings and add a bit of emphasis to your French speaking skills! Try heading to our activities about French exclamatory sentences!
