Learn Italian: Quanto è maestoso questo monumento!

When making an exclamation with a verb, Italian uses quanto (literally "how much"). Because this sentence includes the verb è, quanto is the natural choice. If you wanted to use che, you would typically drop the verb and attach it directly to the noun or adjective, like Che monumento maestoso!

Why is the verb è right after quanto? In English, "is" goes at the end.

In Italian exclamations starting with quanto, the verb immediately follows the exclamative word. The sentence structure is literally "How much is majestic this monument!". Unlike English, Italian doesn't push the subject and verb to the end of the exclamation.

Does quanto need to agree with the masculine singular noun monumento?

Not in this sentence. Here, quanto is acting as an adverb modifying the verb è ("how much it is"), so it stays invariable. Quanto only changes its endings (quanta, quanti, quante) when it sits directly next to a noun to mean "how much" or "how many" (for example, Quanta storia! - "How much history!").

Why does the adjective maestoso come before the subject questo monumento?