Exclamation mark it is a graphic sign that indicates emotion, order or supplication. It is used at the end of an exclamatory sentence, which has a descending intonation, that is, it is characterized by a decrease in the voice when uttered. But it is also used to highlight an imperative sentence or in a vocative emphatic.
Read too: When to use the dash?
Summary about exclamation point
The exclamation point serves to express emotions, order or supplication.
It can be combined with the question mark or the ellipses.
The exclamation mark is one of the characteristics of the period style called Romanticism.
Exclamatory sentences are characterized by descending intonation.
What is the exclamation point for?
the exclamation point serves to express emotions, like:
surprise: I do not believe!
pity: Poor boy!
indignation: That will not remain like this!
happiness: Good morning guys!
Also serves to emphasize an order or a supplication:
Take your money and get out of here!
Please get out of here!
Do not stop now... There's more after the advertising ;)
When to use an exclamation point?
The exclamation point is used in the following cases:
1. at the end of an exclamatory sentence:
I love you!
I am scared!
I'm angry!
2. to highlight an imperative sentence:
Don't even think about doing this!
Renato, clean up this mess now!
Leaves!
3. replacing the comma in an emphatic vocative:
Beautiful! it's hard to study with this mess.
Dad! your gift has arrived.
Bernardo! you are a very cute dog.
Check out our podcast: 5 Frequently Asked Questions about the Portuguese Language
Exclamation mark with other punctuation marks
the exclamation point may appear along with the Question Mark:
Is she his mother?! She looks like his sister!
In this case, the enunciator asks a question, but also expresses his surprise. However, if the intention is to highlight the surprise rather than the question, the exclamation point comes first:
She is your mother!? She looks like his sister!
He too can occur alongside the ellipsis:
Listen to me! Please I want!!!
In this example, the interruption of thought is combined with a plea.
Video lesson on period, exclamation point and question mark
exclamation point in literature
the exclamation point is widely used in literature, as it is associated with subjective elements. Thus, he is present in both prose and poetry, regardless of the period. However, we must highlight a literary style in which the intense use of exclamation marks is one of its characteristics, that is, Romanticism:
— Iracema would never give her breast, which Tupã's spirit inhabits alone, to the most vile warrior of the Tabajara warriors! Clumsy is the bat because it flees from the light and drinks the blood of the sleeping victim...
— Daughter of Araquém, don't harass the jaguar! [...].
ALENCAR, José de. iracema.
— The wine ran out of the glasses, Bertram, but the smoke still curls in the pipes! After the wine vapors the smoke vapors! Gentlemen, in the name of all our reminiscences, of all our lying dreams, of all our fading hopes, a last health! The tavern chef there brought us more wine: health! The smoke and the image of idealism, and the haze of all that is more vaporous in that spiritualism that speaks to us of the immortality of the soul! and therefore, to the smoke of the Antilles, the immortality of the soul!
—Angry! angry!
AZEVEDO, Álvares de. night in the tavern.
Oh! what sweet harmony the breeze brings me!
What soft music in the distance sounds!
My God! how sublime is a burning song
For the endless waves floating aimlessly!
Men of the sea! O rude sailors,
Toasted by the sun of the four worlds!
Children that the storm had cherished
In the cradle of these deep pelagos!
ALVES, Castro. the slave ship.
sentences with exclamation mark
At exclamatory phrases have a descending intonation, that is, characterized by voice reduction:
Today I saw one of the works of the Rebouças brothers!
She just wanted to buy a house!
It can not be!
How vindictive this man is!
Yes!
I didn't go, and Edu knows why!
Read too: When to use quotes?
Solved Exercises About Exclamation Points
Question 01
Read this excerpt from the poem The cathedral, by the symbolist poet Alphonsus de Guimaraens:
Amidst mists, in the distance, the dawn appears.
The hyaline dew gradually evaporates,
The afterglow agonizes.
The Eburne Cathedral of my dream
Appear, in the peace of the smiling sky,
All white with the sun.
And the bell sings in mournful responses:
“Poor Alphonsus! Poor Alphonsus!”
[...]
In the last verse, the exclamation point is used to express:
the surprise.
b) pity.
c) indignation.
d) joy.
e) anger.
Resolution:
Alternative “b”.
On the verse in question, the I lyric express pity.
question 02
In all statements below, the exclamation point is used to emphasize an imperative sentence, with the exception of:
The) You must not buy shares in this company!
B) Put on your helmet and hold on tight!
ç) I don't think about getting on that bike!
d) I want you to buy shares in this company!
and) Luiz, let's get out of here now!
Resolution:
Alternative “c”.
The only sentence that doesn't express an order is: “I'm not thinking about getting on that bike!”.
Question 03
Read this stanza from the poem the slave ship, by the romantic writer Castro Alves:
Oh! what sweet harmony the breeze brings me!
What soft music in the distance sounds!
My God! how sublime is a burning song
For the endless waves floating aimlessly!
The use of exclamations in this fragment has one of these functions:
a) Highlight an imperative sentence.
b) Indicate an emphatic vocative.
c) Make an appeal.
d) Ask a question.
e) Express deep sadness.
Resolution:
Alternative “b”.
In the verse “My God! how sublime is a burning chant”, the exclamation point replaces the comma in an emphatic vocative.
by Warley Souza
grammar teacher