In all languages of the world there are special sentences - exclamatory sentences. They are usually used to express strong emotions, such as delight, surprise, anger and others. Examples of exclamatory sentences are often found in fiction, poetry, letters and diaries. It is almost impossible to find them in scientific texts. There are no examples of exclamatory sentences in them. Scientific articles are written in a neutral emotional style.
Types of exclamation sentences
Exclamation and ellipsis
There are other combinations of characters at the end of sentences. For example, in the literature, some authors use both an exclamation and an ellipsis. Such phrases should prompt the reader to think deeply; in essence, such sentences are extremely similar to rhetorical questions with an exclamation. “And then she appeared at the door!.. She captivated me with her beauty, her face lit up with a smile, and the whole world around sparkled with joy and happiness!..”
Exclamatory sentence
A very interesting option is to use such phrases in the work. Such phrases differ from others in that they have practically no emotional connotation, but contain an order, request, invitation, greeting or proposal. Usually these sentences lack subjects. Intonationally similar constructions do not have to be pronounced with pronounced emotions. However, a mark at the end of a request or order indicates that it is an exclamation clause. Examples of similar constructions in Russian are quite common. They are present in the dialogues of the heroes of works of art.
An order in an exclamatory sentence
In some constructions, the placement of punctuation marks is determined not by the emotional connotation of the statement, but by historical traditions. Therefore, when the author of a work of art uses an order, he draws up a sentence with an exclamation mark. Examples of such phrases can be pronounced in a calm tone and even in a whisper, but the use of an exclamation mark is necessary here. "Stand! - Petrovich ordered the captured Fritz walking ahead of him in a whisper. - Don't turn around! Even if the order is given in a calm, even tone, an exclamation mark must be placed at the end of the phrase. For example, “Team, stand at attention!” or “Get up, the trial is coming!”
Request and suggestion
Traditions explain some other features of punctuation in the Russian language. For example, an exclamation mark at the end of a phrase adds a special emotional connotation to a request.
Invitation and address in an exclamatory sentence
There is one more rule of punctuation. It dictates that there is often an exclamation point at the end of the invitation. This fact is a sign of elementary politeness and a culture of written communication. Therefore, when reading a context with an invitation, for example to a wedding or a picnic, you should not use exclamation intonation at all.
- “Natalya Pavlovna! Georgy Matveevich! Come to the evening dedicated to the celebration of our silver wedding at the Cosmos restaurant!”
- “Dear high school students! Come on October 23 to the “autumn ball”, which will be held in the school assembly hall!”
Greetings and wishes in an exclamatory sentence
The rules for writing letters are very important both for ordinary people and for authors of works of fiction. To understand the placement of punctuation marks at the end of sentences, you should pay attention to one interesting feature: very often a greeting or wish is expressed in the form of an imperative verb. These are the words “hello!”, “be healthy!” Therefore, these sentences are perceived as a request, which also historically has an exclamation mark at the end. Often a farewell is written in a similar way in a letter. For example, "Goodbye, my dears!" or "Good night, dear friend! I wish you sweet dreams!"
Exclamatory sentences in Russian serve to enhance the emotionality of texts, messages, and comments. Since it is possible to give intonational coloring to the statements of characters in works of art only with the help of punctuation marks, the authors have no choice but to use exclamation marks, question marks and their combinations.
A sentence is a speech unit, which is a collection of interconnected words. It contains a certain message of information, a question, or encourages some action. 3rd grade is the time from which the study of this section begins at school. Let's consider what sentences there are regarding intonation and the purpose of the statement in our language, and give examples.
Types of sentences by intonation
The following types of sentences are distinguished by intonation. According to the emotional coloring, statements can be exclamatory or non-exclamatory. The choice of one type or another depends on the emotional state of the speaker. The most common ones are non-exclamation ones. They are pronounced moderately, in a calm state. Most often it is a story.
Types of sentences by intonation
A non-exclamatory statement might look like this:
- Sitting at the computer for too long is bad for your health: try to get up from your desk more often and do physical exercise.
- A tired puppy, after long games, fell asleep right on the child’s lap.
- Yesterday's hurricane was so bad that it knocked down a tall nearby tree, which broke a window when it fell.
A non-exclamatory sentence, examples of which are given above, in rare cases may have an interrogative or even motivating intonation (example: Let the children go to bed, while I sit).
Exclamatory sentences (examples are presented below) convey the emotionality and feelings of the speaker. Exclamatory statements usually represent an incentive.
- You've finally arrived!
- Be careful!
- What interesting news I will tell you now!
Exclamation phrases are pronounced in a special way. The speaker raises his voice and emphasizes words that express his feelings and emotions.
Groups according to the purpose of the statement
There are three types of phrases based on the purpose of the statement, each of which has its own features and characteristics:
- narrative;
- motivation;
- question.
Types of sentences according to the purpose of the statement
Narrative
The purpose of the message is to inform about a certain event or phenomenon. The speaker, by choosing such speech means, conveys certain information to the interlocutor. A statement of fact is a declarative sentence.
- According to statistics, USE results across the country are improving every year, which can also be said about the quality of education in each subject.
- The weather in some regions of Russia remains windy and rainy throughout the summer months.
- Two new hospitals were built in our city, as well as one veterinary clinic.
In oral speech, such a statement is pronounced evenly and calmly. On one of its members the voice rises, and towards the end it lowers. At the end there is a period or exclamation point.
Note! All texts are based specifically on narrative statements. In this regard, the latter are much more common than prompts and questions.
Declarative phrases have several features.
- They can be non-common (only the main members) and common (the main members plus minor ones). Examples: Father returned. He brought with him a small puppy.
- The structure can be two-part or one-part. In two-part ones there are two main members, in one-part ones there is only one. Examples: The cat lazily opened his eyes and stretched. There was a knock on the door.
- The phrases under consideration are divided into simple and complex. Simple ones consist of one grammatical stem, complex ones - of two or more. Example: A child sadly bent over a textbook. The sun is scorching outside, and the voices of children playing football can be heard.
What are declarative sentences
Incentive speech
The impulse expresses a certain expression of the will of the speaker. It is pronounced so that the addressee (the one who is addressed) performs some action that the addressee (the one who makes the speech) requires of him. Inducement is used in cases where the speaker expresses his wishes regarding something, orders or asks.
Also, motivation tasks in some cases are achieved through the use of special particles “come on”, “let” and forms of the imperative mood of predicates.
- Get ready and go out immediately, otherwise we will be late for the airport!
- Meet me in the evening, please, I'll be staying late at work today.
- May I never hear such words from you again!
Examples of incentive offers
Question
Through interrogative sentences, the speaker wants to obtain some information that he does not possess.
There are two types of structures under consideration.
- General question: asked in order to obtain confirmation of some information or its denial. A monosyllabic answer can be given to such a question: “yes”, “no”. Examples: Have you completed your homework? Did you see your neighbor yesterday? Was it still light when you returned home last night?
- Private question: asked in order to obtain information about a phenomenon, event, person. It is impossible to give a monosyllabic answer to such a question. Examples: Why were you so late today? What do you feed your pet? For what reason does he not want to talk to me?
The characteristic of a question in oral speech is a special intonation, in writing - a question mark after the end of the phrase.
Punctuation at the end of a sentence
The structure of the question looks like this: the question word comes first, and then the rest of the words related to the topic of speech.
Interesting Facts:
- At the end of a question there can be two punctuation marks - a question mark and an exclamation mark (example: How could you be so inattentive?!);
- Three exclamation marks in a row are placed if the degree of emotionality is particularly high (Example: Brake, there is a pedestrian ahead!!!).
Helpful advice! When using punctuation marks, maintain a sense of proportion, especially in online communication. Written phrases with a lot of exclamation marks cause irritation, and users try to ignore them.
We looked at what sentences there are based on intonation and into what groups they are divided according to the purpose of the statement.
Based on their emotional coloring, sentences are divided into exclamatory and non-exclamatory, which depends on the state of mind and emotions of the speaker. Non-exclamatory phrases most often represent narration, but in exceptional cases they represent incentives.
Useful video: types of sentences according to the purpose of the statement
Conclusion
The types of sentences according to the purpose of the statement are as follows: narrative, motivation and question. The first type is the most common: it is on it that most texts are based. Each type of statement has its own characteristics and characteristics.
In contact with
In Russian, simple sentences have several characteristics. They may contain a message about something, a question or a call to action. From this point of view, according to the purpose of the statement, simple sentences are divided into the following types:
- narrative
- interrogative
- incentive.
But besides this, there is one more characteristic of the proposal. All these types of sentences may differ in the strength of the feeling expressed in them. In addition to a message, a question or a call to action, an emotional background arises in them when the speaker expresses his attitude towards the message being communicated, introduces feelings or emotions into it.
Emotion[fr. emotion< emovere возбуждать, волновать ] - mental experience, emotional excitement (anger, fear, joy, etc.) that arises in humans and animals as a result of exposure to external and internal stimuli.
Dictionary of foreign words. M., Russian language, 1980
What are exclamatory sentences?
To understand what an exclamatory sentence is, let’s compare two very similar, at first glance, statements:
The sun has already risen.
The sun has already risen!
The first sentence contains a statement of fact, a message about a natural phenomenon when the darkness ended and day came. This is a declarative sentence that is pronounced in a calm tone, without much expression.
The second sentence also talks about the same phenomenon, but it contains the emotion of joy, delight and admiration.
Let us conclude that sentences may differ from each other in the strength of the feeling expressed in them.
The speaker can express joy, admiration, grief, fear, indignation, anger, irritation, etc.
This is manifested in oral speech with the help of a special intonation, more intense, elevated. In writing, an exclamatory sentence is indicated by an exclamation mark.
Sentences can be pronounced in a calm, even tone. Based on the strength of the expressed feeling, these are non-exclamatory sentences. A sentence can be pronounced with a special intonation that conveys a strong feeling.
Let's compare:
The apple trees bloomed in the garden (declarative, non-exclamatory sentence).
You go into the garden, and the apple trees are blooming there! (declarative, exclamatory sentence).
In terms of emotional coloring, all types of sentences can be exclamatory, differing in the purpose of the statement.
Let's observe:
I want to dance (narrative, non-exclamatory)
I want to dance! (declarative, exclamatory)
Haven't you learned this rule? (interrogative, non-exclamative)
Haven't you learned this rule yet?! (interrogative, exclamation)
Be sure to call me today (incentive, non-exclamatory)
Be sure to call me today! (motivating, exclamatory).
Means of expressing exclamations
In addition to the special intonation that is used in exclamatory sentences, there are special “exclamatory words” in the Russian language:
- well, what the, how, let it be, you see(particles);
- oh, oh, eh, wow, alas, ugh(interjections);
- what, who, what, how much, how, where(pronouns and adverbs).
What eyes!
What a handsome man, just a sight for sore eyes!
That's what you are, it turns out!
How brightly the sun shines!
Who's laughing so merrily here?!
Oh, how nimble we are!
Well, why are you telling me about this?!
Examples of exclamatory sentences in literature
You won't find exclamatory sentences in scientific texts. But in fiction, writers willingly use emotionally charged sentences in their works to convey various feelings.
Alas, I have wasted a lot of my life on various amusements! (A.S. Pushkin).
Oh, you are heavy, Monomakh’s hat! (A.S. Pushkin).
How good you are, O night sea! (A. Tyutchev).
Oh, and beauty! (P. P. Bazhov).
Get itchy, shoulder! Swing your hand! (A.V. Koltsov).
Moscow...how much has merged in this sound for the Russian heart! How much resonated with him! (A.S. Pushkin).
What is the difference between exclamatory and motivating sentences?
- Narrative (to tell).
- Interrogative (to ask).
- Incentive (to motivate someone to do something).
- Come on, come to me quickly!
- Leave me alone, Prokofich, I feel sick, I’m dying...
- Eh, it can be nice in the oak forest in winter! (not motivating)
- Why are you attached to me like a spring tick?! (not motivating)
- Stop everyone! (incentive)
Let's start with incentive offers.
In sentences of this type there is an inducement to some kind of action. They can be called sentence orders.
Don't rush to make a decision, wait for Lesha!
Let's go visit!
Think, Egor, think!
Take the child.
Exclamatory sentences are a type of division of sentences based on intonation. They can be motivating too.
What is the air here!
How easy it is to breathe in freedom!
Marvelous!
Examples of incentive sentences with !.
Depending on the purpose of the statement, sentences are divided into narrative, interrogative and incentive. Incentive sentences express an incentive to action, formalized in the form of an order, request, appeal, advice.
Don't sit on the tree stump, don't eat the pie.
Eat bread and salt, but tell the truth.
You should go to the garden for a cucumber, son. (I would go = go).
As you can see, in an incentive sentence the predicate can be a verb in the form of an imperative or conditional mood (in the sense of imperative).
Stand! (infinitive as an imperative mood).
Let's sit down here. (particle let's + verb in 1st person plural form).
Based on emotional coloring, we divide sentences into exclamatory and non-exclamatory.
In exclamatory sentences we express joy, delight, anger, fear, indignation, etc. Declarative, interrogative and incentive sentences can also be exclamatory, that is, these types of sentences are pronounced with additional expression.
How nice it is in the forest! (declarative exclamatory sentence). Let's go to the forest! (motivating exclamatory sentence).
To express an exclamation, we use pronouns and adverbs as intensifying particles.
What beautiful birches! There is so much sun around! What is there to admire here?!
Exclamatory sentences.
When we use such sentences in speech, we want to express some special feelings or emotions, including both positive and negative.
For example: I really love skiing! (that is, it expresses a feeling of strong attachment to something)
Or: Damn, it hurts! (negative feelings are described here).
Incentive offers
They are called upon to perform a certain action. Incentive sentences can also be exclamatory, since such sentences often convey some kind of emotion.
For example: Come here!
Exclamatory sentences are used to convey strong feelings and emotions of the speaker.
Exclamatory sentences express: delight, joy, anger, excitement, surprise, fear and other pronounced feelings. There is always an exclamation point at the end of a sentence.
For example:
We are absolutely delighted with the carousel!
He treated me so meanly!
Wow, how nice it is here!
Phew, what a surprise!
Incentive offers- These are sentences that encourage action.
Incentive sentences contain advice, a request, a prohibition.
For example:
Children, don't stop making noise, please.
Study well!
Children, listen to your mother's words!
Clean up after yourself quickly!
I'll arrive now, meet me.
Incentive sentences are usually exclamatory. Example of an incentive sentence: Let's strive for a brighter future! And exclamatory sentences are expressions of emotion. Joy, fear, delight... And they don’t necessarily motivate you to do something.
An exclamatory sentence implies the presence of an exclamation mark at its end, which emphasizes the solemnity or brightness of the expression of emotions. For example: We won!
As for incentive sentences, their meaning is to encourage a person to do something, that is, they contain either a request or an order.
So, an incentive sentence may have a strong emotional connotation and therefore be exclamatory, but it may not be exclamatory, since emotions can carry an even and calm tone. But an exclamatory sentence must have an exclamation mark at the end, otherwise it will already be classified as non-exclamatory.
An incentive sentence expresses requests, orders, and incentives to do something. For example: Stop! Bring me the blue folder. Let's sit down on the path. These are incentive offers. They are not necessarily exclamative (the second and third sentences are non-vocalistic, but motivating). There is not always an exclamation point at the end of an incentive sentence.
Vocalistic and non-vocalistic sentences are a division of sentences based on emotional coloring. The same sentence can be both exclamatory and non-vocalistic. For example, compare: Spring has come. Or: Spring has come!
An exclamatory sentence can be used as an incentive: Get up! Likewise narrative: How sunny today! So and interrogative: How is it not?!
Incentive offer is a sentence with a bright cue that encourages a person to take action. For example:
- Come on, do your signature somersault coup!
- Come on, you can do anything, I believe that you will run this distance!
Ah, these are sentences of admiration:
- Oh, what a golden autumn!
- Oh, this woman has driven me crazy!
- What an amazing film, the acting is amazing!
Incentive.
All sentences are statements. There are no other offers. All these statements have a purpose. On this basis, all sentences (according to the purpose of the statement) are divided into:
All of these sentences can be exclamatory (with a ! at the end) or non-exclamatory (without a ! at the end). An incentive sentence can also be exclamatory or non-exclamatory, but it always encourages - advises, recommends, orders, calls for action:
Exclamation marks.
These are sentences that express a strong emotion and have ! at the end. There are no exclamatory sentences without an exclamation point at the end. Exclamatory sentences may or may not be motivating:
Exclamatory sentences in English
So, in spoken language, we often convey our mood using tone. For writing there is an exclamation mark - “!”.
It is he who makes it clear that the proposal carries a certain emotional charge. We often use exclamatory sentences to give vent to what is, as they say, boiling. With their help, we express surprise, shock, joy and other strong feelings.
How is this effect achieved? Firstly, we add certain words (“what”, “what the”, “well and” and others), secondly, we change the order of words: for example, we say “Well, you’re smart!” not “Well, you’re smart!”
How are things going in English?
In English, similar sentences also exist. And, just like in Russian, “emotionality” in them arises thanks to:
- Additional words
What - what?
How - how? - Changing word order
Let's look at several types of exclamatory sentences in English.
1. Exclamations with “What..!” ("Which..!")
1. Sentence diagram #1:
There is nothing complicated here: we just put item after what.
2. Scheme of proposal #2
We can also add an action to our subject. The action is placed after the subject:
2. “Isn’t it true?”
Sometimes we are so overwhelmed with emotions that we expect our interlocutor to share them. Let's say we make some observation, for example:
When we expect that the interlocutor will most likely agree with us, we add to this phrase words like “after all,” “truth,” “isn’t it true,” “tell”:
In English, all these words come down to one single construction, which is connected as a “tail” at the end of the sentence. We take the main auxiliary verb indicating time (is/was/will be) and negate it:
If we had sentences with action, then we will have to “pull out” this verb, depending on what time it was.
If it’s real, then we take it out do.
If it’s past, we pull it out. did.
If the future is will.
Such a “tail” is good to attach to exclamations with what:
Read more about such issues in our article.
3. Exclamations with “How..!” (“How..!”, “What..!”)
Unlike what, how attaches only adjectives (that is, words denoting characteristics).
However, we can make such exclamations a little more complicated. To do this, we need a structure that allows us to evaluate the action. For example:
In English this is expressed using the construction:
Examples:
If we want to imbue these phrases with emotion using "How", then the order should be as follows:
Examples:
So we have looked at the main types of exclamations in English. Use them, and your speech will become livelier and more varied! 🙂
Unlike what, how only adjectives (i.e., words denoting characteristics) are attached to themselves.
Reinforcement task
Here are neutral phrases in English. Make them exclamation points!
1. It is a high price for such a small flat.
2. It is impolite.
3. We were happy after our victory.
4. I met a strange man today.
5. He gave me good advice.
6. So, Tom is late again. It's unsurprising.
7. This present is wonderful.
8. It will be great to live on Manhattan.
An exclamatory sentence is a sentence characterized by emotional coloring and increased expressiveness. Exclamatory sentences are distinguished by a specific intonation and timbre coloring; compare: Fire! We're on fire! They often contain interjections, particles, exclamatory pronominal words; compare: Well done! Oh, these are my helpers! That's what he told you! What a rain! What a scientist he is! Who didn't he ask?
Exclamatory sentences can be built according to special syntactic models with lost or weakened grammatical and lexical meanings of the components; compare: This motorcycle was given to you! Found time to dream! Many exclamatory sentences are characterized by reverse (inverse) word order; compare: My little head is gone! He will understand you! How sweet the south wind! In writing, an exclamation point is placed at the end of an exclamatory sentence.
Sentences of all communicative types can be used as exclamatory sentences: narrative, imperative and interrogative. In this case, the general content of the proposal is modified to one degree or another. In some cases, exclamation serves to express a high degree of attribute and enhance the degree of categoricalness of a statement or expression of will; compare: What a heavy rain! He will arrive tomorrow! Come back immediately! When did this happen! In other cases - with a different intonation - an exclamatory sentence can be understood in a meaning opposite to that conveyed by the literal meaning of the words.
Thus, affirmative narrative exclamatory sentences acquire a negative meaning or express the speaker’s negative attitude towards what is being communicated; compare: I'm going to get upset because of him!(=I won’t); She will go with you!(=won't go); You understand a lot!(=you don’t understand anything). A similar meaning of expressively colored negation can be expressed by interrogative non-negative sentences; compare: Why did he go there?(=there was no need to walk); What gardens these are!(= these are not gardens); Who needs it!(=no one needs); How do I know!(=I don’t know), while negative exclamatory sentences express an expressively colored statement; compare: Who doesn't know this!(=everyone knows); Where has he not been?(=been everywhere).
According to the degree of emotional coloring, sentences are classified into two types: exclamatory and non-exclamatory. The ability to correctly determine which one is suitable for a particular case will allow you to correctly understand the essence of the sentence, read it with the right intonation and put the required punctuation mark at the end.
Non-exclamatory sentences are those that imply an ordinary, everyday tone and the absence of a strong emotional component. At the end of such sentences there is a period. For example: It has been raining all day today. According to the schedule, the train will arrive in two hours.
Exclamatory sentences are those sentences that convey strong feelings and emotions of the speaker.
For example: We are very happy!
At the end of these sentences there is an exclamation mark, and their grammatical means are as follows:
- Intonation expressing joy, delight, sadness, surprise, anger, excitement, fear and other pronounced feelings. The pronunciation of exclamatory sentences is carried out in a higher tone, with an emphasis on the word, which gives a greater emotional coloring.
- Interjections.
- Exclamatory particles of pronominal, adverbial or interjectional origin, giving the statement a characteristic emotional coloring: oh, well, well, how, where how, what for, which and others.
Using three exclamation points Typically, by using three exclamation points at the end of a sentence, the author expresses a high degree of emotional arousal. This way you can express joy or delight, anger or indignation. Sentences “Get out!!!” or “Go away and don’t come back!!!” talk about the deep feelings of the person who expresses them.
The characteristics of a sentence include such a concept as types of sentences by intonation. These are exclamatory and non-exclamatory sentences. We talk about the differences between these proposals in the article.
Distinguishing sentences by intonation
The intonation of a sentence is often confused with the purpose of the statement. However, these are completely different concepts.
According to the purpose of the statement, sentences are divided into narrative, interrogative and incentive. The first ones report something, the second ones contain a question, the third ones encourage action (contain a request, order, wish, etc.).
A sentence with any purpose of expression can be pronounced with a special emotional connotation, that is, with a pronounced feeling. It could be joy, anger, outrage, delight, and so on. It is the special emotionality in writing that is conveyed using an exclamation mark.
Here are examples of exclamatory sentences and similar non-exclamatory sentences:
- Spring came. - Spring came!
- Have you written an essay? -Have you written an essay?!
- Bring some water. - Bring some water!
How to recognize an exclamatory sentence
If we read a ready-made text, we can easily distinguish an exclamatory sentence by its punctuation mark - there is an exclamation mark at the end.
By ear, we distinguish exclamatory sentences from non-exclamatory sentences by how emotionally they are pronounced. The information in exclamatory and similar non-exclamatory sentences is the same, but the exclamation is pronounced with greater expression, louder, with the expression of some emotion.
You should not confuse incentive and exclamatory sentences: there are both exclamatory non-incentive sentences and incentive non-exclamatory ones.
For example, a sentence "Spring came." contains a simple statement of fact. It is impossible to conclude how the speaker feels about this event.
Sentence “Spring has come!” expresses strong emotions and expression. Most likely, the speaker wants to express his joy (although this cannot be determined by the exclamation mark: perhaps he wants to express disappointment, irritation, fear or other strong emotion).
Exclamatory sentences are often found in journalistic texts, where they perform a rhetorical function.
Exclamation markers
The main marker (sign) of an exclamatory sentence is the exclamation point. This is one of the end of sentence marks; it is quite enough to show that the sentence has ended. However, in some cases, not one, but three exclamation marks are used at the end of a sentence. This is done in order to emphasize a very strong emotion.
Interrogative exclamation sentences require two marks at the end: a question mark and an exclamation mark. The rule is that an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence is placed after a question mark. Such sentences often contain not just an emotional question, but rather a rhetorical question, expressing more indignation or bewilderment than a desire to receive an answer.
Some sentences end with an exclamation mark and an ellipsis. Then one of the dots (the first one) is replaced with an exclamation mark. Example: “What an amazing incident!..”
Another common use of the exclamation mark is in the design of requests. However, it must be borne in mind that this is not a proposal in the full sense.
What have we learned?
Exclamatory sentences express special emotions and feelings; an exclamation mark is placed at the end. Sentences that differ in the purpose of the statement can be exclamatory. When you encounter a question mark and an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence, you should write the question mark first; When an exclamation mark and an ellipsis meet, the first dot is replaced with an exclamation mark.
