Exclamatory Sentence Structures

The Common Exclamations page gave you an inventory of fixed expressions — chunks to memorise and deploy. This page does the opposite job: it gives you the grammatical patterns for building your own exclamations productively. Once you internalise these patterns, you are no longer limited to the hundred or so set expressions. You can exclaim about anything.

European Portuguese has roughly ten productive exclamative patterns. Most are built around a small set of lexical triggers — que, como, tão, tanto, mas que, and a handful of others — that flag the sentence as exclamative rather than declarative or interrogative. This page walks through each pattern, shows you how it's built, and gives you natural examples.

The ten patterns at a glance

The rest of the page takes each pattern in turn.

Pattern 1: Que + adjective / noun

This is the default exclamative frame of European Portuguese. It is almost certainly the first exclamative pattern you need to master: it generates most of the everyday exclamations you hear.

Que + adjective

Structure: Que + adjective (+ optional further material).

The adjective does not need to agree with anything in this elliptical form — Que bonito! works whether you are reacting to a boy, a girl, or a thing. When the adjective modifies an expressed noun, though, it agrees normally: Que bonita casa! (What a pretty house! — feminine), Que bonitos olhos! (What pretty eyes! — masculine plural).

Que + noun

Structure: Que + noun (+ optional further material).

Unlike English ("what a noise" requires the article "a"), Portuguese que + noun does not include an article. Que um dia! is wrong.

Que + adjective + noun or Que + noun + adjective

Both orders are available, with slightly different emphasis.

With most everyday adjectives (bom, mau, grande, pequeno, belo, lindo), the adjective-before-noun order is preferred in exclamations. With descriptive adjectives of many kinds, adjective-after-noun is also fine.

Reinforcement with que: Que + adjective + que + verb

A very common PT-PT twist: repeat que with a full clause.

The second que is a subordinating conjunction introducing a finite clause. The result feels more emphatic than the bare elliptical form.

Pattern 2: Como + verb

The como-pattern focuses on manner or degree — "how much / how intensely / in what manner" something happens.

Structure: Como + verb (+ other material).

Como in this exclamative use is distinct from the interrogative como ("how?"). Intonation and context disambiguate — the exclamative version always carries emotional force and often subject-verb inversion.

Como vs que for the same thought

The same exclamation can often be rendered with que or como, with a subtle shift.

In natural speech the difference is very slight and often reduces to personal preference or regional tendency.

Pattern 3: Tão + adjective / adverb

Tão (so) intensifies an adjective or adverb. It is the direct exclamative counterpart of English "so."

Structure: Tão + adjective/adverb (+ optional clause).

With a full sentence, tão typically sits before the adjective in the predicate:

Tão + adjective + que + clause

A closely related resultative structure — "so X that Y."

This last pattern overlaps with result clauses more than pure exclamation; context decides which reading dominates.

Pattern 4: Tanto / Tanta / Tantos / Tantas + noun

Tanto is the quantity counterpart of tão. It means "so much / so many" and agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

Agreement

Tanto with verbs (adverbial)

When tanto modifies a verb rather than a noun, it is invariable (no agreement) and functions adverbially.

Pattern 5: Que + adjective/noun + que + verb (emphatic)

This is the full-sentence version of Pattern 1. You use it when you want to deliver the evaluation and then attach a whole clause explaining what triggers it.

The choice of verb mood in the subordinate clause follows normal subjunctive-selection rules — many of these triggers (que pena que…, que estranho que…) require the subjunctive because they express evaluation of a proposition rather than a fact.

Verb-mood selection here overlaps with the broader logic covered on the Subjunctive after emotional / evaluative triggers page.

Pattern 6: Mas que + noun/adjective (intensified)

Inserting mas ("but") at the start of a que-exclamation intensifies it — adds a note of emotional amplification, exasperation, or admiration depending on context.

The mas does not mean "but" here — it is a purely emphatic particle. Compare with the uses of mas in contrast conjunctions on the Contrast and concession page.

Pattern 7: Elliptical exclamations (verbless)

These are bare nouns or adjectives used as complete exclamations. The copula (é, está) is elided — but the exclamative force is fully there.

Elliptical exclamations are characteristic of informal spoken Portuguese and of headlines in journalism. They pack emotional content into minimum words.

Pattern 8: Imperative exclamations

Imperatives are inherently exclamative: a command carries emphatic force by definition. PT-PT imperative exclamations range from soft to sharp.

Soft imperatives (attention-getters)

Medium imperatives (directives)

Sharp imperatives (commanding / confrontational)

Você- and formal equivalents

With você or formal address, imperative forms use the subjunctive. Softer and more polite.

See the Imperative Sentences page for full imperative conjugations in all persons.

Pattern 9: Rhetorical questions as exclamations

A sentence with interrogative form can function as an exclamation. The speaker is not asking — they are asserting with emphasis. These are marked in writing by the ?! combination, or sometimes just !.

The pragmatic shift — from genuine question to exclamation — is cued by intonation in speech and by ?! in writing. Readings that preserve genuine question-force would use ? alone; exclamative readings use ?! or !.

Pattern 10: Subject-verb inversion for emphasis

European Portuguese frequently inverts subject and verb in exclamations, putting the verb first. This is a stylistic move that adds emphasis and is a recognised feature of exclamative syntax.

Inversion is particularly common with the copulas ser and estar and with verbs of arrival, departure, and experience. For the full pattern see Inversion in Declaratives.

Intonation patterns in spoken PT-PT

Though this page is about syntactic structure, a grammar-only treatment of exclamations would be incomplete without a word on spoken delivery. Three intonation features are distinctive in PT-PT exclamations:

1. Rising pitch on the key word. In Que bonito!, the pitch rises sharply on -ni- (the stressed syllable of bonito).
2. Elongated stressed vowel. Speakers often draw out the stressed vowel: Que bo-nii-to!, Faaan-tástico!, Quuuue pena!.
3. Higher overall register. The whole utterance sits higher in the vocal range than neutral speech. Women's and men's voices alike rise noticeably.

A learner who masters the syntax but delivers Que bonito! in a flat monotone will produce something that reads as ironic or insincere. Practise the intonation alongside the structure.

Punctuation conventions

Combining patterns

In real speech, exclamative patterns often combine. A single utterance might stack two or three of the patterns above.

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• PT-PT exclamative sentences cluster around ten productive patterns built on a small set of triggers: que, como, tão, tanto, mas que, and imperative/inverted structures.
• Pattern 1 — Que
  • adjective/noun
  is the default. Learn Que bom!, Que pena!, Que bonito!, Que dia lindo!. Never use Que é bom!.
• Pattern 2 — Como
  • verb
  expresses manner/degree: Como o tempo voa!, Como ela fala!.
• Pattern 3 — Tão
  • adjective/adverb
  intensifies a quality: Tão bonito!, Tão cansado que estou!.
• Pattern 4 — Tanto
  • noun
  expresses quantity and agrees in gender/number: tanto tempo, tanta gente, tantos problemas, tantas pessoas.
• Pattern 5 — Que
  • adj + que
    • verb
  is the full-sentence emphatic form: Que bom que é ver-te!.
• Pattern 6 — Mas que intensifies: Mas que dia!.
• Pattern 7 — elliptical exclamations (verbless): Maravilha!, Que beleza!.
• Pattern 8 — imperatives are inherently exclamative: Pára!, Olha!, Cala-te!.
• Pattern 9 — rhetorical questions function as exclamations: Quem havia de pensar?!.
• Pattern 10 — subject-verb inversion adds emphasis: Está um dia lindo!.
• Punctuation: only the closing ! — no Spanish-style ¡. Use ?! for exclamation-questions.
• Exclamative agreement matters: tanto/tanta/tantos/tantas, and adjectives agree with overt nouns (Que linda casa!, not Que lindo casa!).
• Combine patterns freely in real speech. The sibling page Common Exclamations provides the fixed expressions; this page gives you the rules to invent new ones.