¡Cómo...! and ¡Cuánto...!

While ¡Qué...! is the most common Spanish exclamation word, it is not the only one. Two other important words — cómo and cuánto — let you express exclamations about how something happens and how much of something there is. These patterns are especially useful because they combine with verbs, whereas ¡Qué...! usually combines with nouns and adjectives.

Both cómo and cuánto carry written accents when used in exclamations, just as they do in questions. The accents distinguish them from the unaccented como (as, like) and cuanto (as much as), which have very different meanings.

¡Cómo + Verb!

The structure ¡Cómo + verb! expresses amazement at the manner or intensity of an action. It translates as How...! in English, but the focus is on the verb, not an adjective.

In each of these sentences, you are not saying what is happening — you are reacting to how intensely or how well it is happening. ¡Cómo llueve! means something like It is raining so hard!, not What is falling from the sky?.

The subject, if included, typically comes after the verb. This is similar to many exclamation patterns in Spanish where the natural order is verb-first.

This sentence can be positive (your brother is so eloquent!) or negative (your brother won't stop talking!) depending on context and tone.

¡Cuánto + Verb!

The word cuánto means how much and, when used in an exclamation with a verb, it expresses the intensity or quantity of the action. Importantly, when cuánto modifies a verb, it does not change form — it stays as cuánto, regardless of who is doing the action.

Here cuánto functions almost like an adverb — it tells you the degree of loving, the amount of working. English speakers can think of it as so much or how much.

¡Cuánto/a/os/as + Noun!

When cuánto modifies a noun instead of a verb, it must agree with that noun in gender and number. This gives you four possible forms:

Note that gente is a singular feminine noun in Spanish, even though English would translate it as the plural people. That is why you say ¡Cuánta gente! with the singular feminine form.

Cómo vs. Cuánto: Which to Use?

These two words are often confused because both can translate as how in English exclamations. The key difference is:

• ¡Cómo...! focuses on the manner or way something happens.
• ¡Cuánto...! focuses on the amount or quantity.

Compare:

In practice, these two can overlap, and native speakers sometimes use them interchangeably in emotional reactions. Do not worry if you get them mixed up — the meaning is usually clear from context.

For interjections and other emotional expressions that do not fit the ¡Qué...!, ¡Cómo...!, or ¡Cuánto...! patterns, see Other Exclamatory Expressions. For the more common noun-based exclamations, review ¡Qué...! Exclamations.