How to Express Exclamations in French

The elements of language give us various ways to express strong emotions or surprise. In orality, exclamations always carry some characteristic mark in the tone or volume of the voice, as well as in the selection of words chosen by the speaker. Body language also gives us detailed information about the speaker’s attitude, which can help the overall comprehension of the exclamation.

In the written medium we find the syntactic conventions to express exclamations: the use of exclamation marks (also known as exclamation marks). In Spanish we have the opening and closing sign (¡!) that must surround the exclamatory sentence in question. In French, however, there is only the closing exclamation mark (!).

Examples of exclamatory sentences

Come c’est beau! (How beautiful it is!)

Combien de choses il ya ! (How many things are there!)

Il travaille tant et il mange tant ! (He works so much and eats so much!)

Other ways to express exclamations

We will often find sentences that express strong feelings and emotions, even without an exclamation point.

the imperative

It is used to express orders, hopes or wishes. It can be used with or without the exclamation mark, depending on the emphasis of the sentence:

Come with us . (Come with us)

Aidez-moi! (Help me!)

the subjunctive

The use of the subjunctive preceded by that transforms the sentence into a third person conjugated command:

Qu’elle finisse avant midi! (I hope it’s over by noon!)

Qu’il me laisse tranquille . (I wish he would leave me alone)

The conjunction more

This conjunction, which is equivalent to “but”, can be added when you want to emphasize a word or phrase:

–Il veut nous aider . (He wants to help us)

-Mais bien sûr!  (But of course!)

The exclamatory adjective

The adjective quel, and its feminine and plural variants, are often used for emphasis:

What a disaster! (What a mess!)

Quelle loyauté il a montrée!  (What loyalty he showed!)

exclamatory expressions

There are numerous idioms that have an exclamatory use in French, some of these are:

Oh la la ! , you have! , Ça alors ! , Pas posible (to express surprise)

So much pee! (to express discontent)

Good chance! (to wish luck)

References

• Hankuk, E. The emphatic particle “that” in exclamatory sentences . 2013. Available at: http://ve.scielo.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0254-16372013000200009
• Gustin, T. (s/f). Exclamatory Phrases French / Spanish . Available at: https://laclassefrancaise.es/frases-exclamativas-francesesspanol/