Learn Spanish (Latin America): ¡Cómo se marchita esta planta!

You could use ¡Cuánto se marchita esta planta!, but the nuance changes. ¡Cuánto! focuses purely on the amount or degree (how much). ¡Cómo! followed by a verb emphasizes the manner or intensity of the action—it's like saying, "Look at the way this plant is withering!" Both work in exclamations, but ¡Cómo! is perfect for expressing surprise at how something is happening.

Why is there a se before marchita?

The verb used here is marchitarse, which means "to wither," "to wilt," or "to dry up." The pronoun se shows that the plant is undergoing this change of state itself, rather than wilting something else. In Spanish, changes of a physical state or condition very often use these reflexive pronouns.

Could I say "¡Cómo esta planta se marchita!"?

It is much more natural to say ¡Cómo se marchita esta planta! In Spanish exclamations starting with words like ¡Cómo!, ¡Qué!, or ¡Cuánto!, the standard word order is to place the verb immediately after the exclamation word, pushing the subject (esta planta) to the end of the sentence.

Why does Cómo have an accent mark if this isn't a question?