Learn Italian: Quanto è alto e maestoso questo ponte! - How tall and majestic this bridge is!

In English, we say "How" + adjective + subject + verb. In Italian exclamations with quanto, the standard structure is Quanto + verb + adjective + subject. Translating the English word order directly would sound very unnatural to an Italian speaker.

Can I use Che instead of Quanto to say "How tall..."?

No, you cannot say Che alto è questo ponte!. Che is used in exclamations that focus on a noun, like Che ponte maestoso! meaning "What a majestic bridge!". When you want to express "How [adjective]" alongside a verb, you must use quanto.

Since ponte is a masculine noun, is that why we use Quanto ending in -o?

No, quanto ends in -o here because it is functioning as an adverb to emphasize the adjectives. Adverbs are invariable, meaning they never change their endings. If you were talking about a feminine noun like a tower, you would say Quanto è alta questa torre! — the adjective changes to alta, but quanto stays exactly the same.

Is it possible to put the subject at the beginning of the sentence instead?

Yes! It is very common in spoken Italian to introduce the topic first. You could absolutely say Questo ponte, quanto è alto e maestoso!. The version in this lesson is just slightly more poetic, placing the subject right at the end for a dramatic finish.