Exclamation mark: Communication is a mixture of words and body language. Human expressions and body language speak a great amount of deal. But what happens when there is no physical presence. Written language can be so tricky when it comes to the expression of tone and emotions. What comes in handy at this point is a punctuation mark called Exclamation mark.
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Exclamation Mark
I won the lottery!
When there is an extreme emotion, such as excitement, shock, order, admiration, etc. we use the exclamation mark. It is always added at the end of a sentence. In this chapter, we will tell you all about its usage and exceptions. Let’s see some exciting examples to give you an idea of what you are diving into:
- What a beautiful boathouse!
- Oh my God! My brother just fell right in the gutter and it was hilarious!
- Do not go to the third-floor corridor!
- What a thunderous rain! (Note that this could also be written using a full stop mark but the excitement won’t show – The rain is thunderous).
Usage of Exclamation Mark:
1. When used in direct speech, something is said with shouting or spoken very loudly. Let’s see a few examples to understand this:
- “Don’t stand at the door!”, my mom yelled.
- “Stop shouting!”, she shouted.
- “Go to hell!”, my sister yelled at me.
Browse more Topics under Punctuation
- Introduction to Punctuation
- Apostrophe
- Capital Letters
- Comma
- Full Stop
- Inverted Commas / Quotation Marks
- Question Mark
2. When used to express a surprise. Let’s see a few examples to understand this:
- Wow! That dress is beautiful!
- There’s a shooting star. Look there!
- There was a surprise performance in our school by Arijit Singh. That was unexpected!
3. When the sentence expresses excitement or amusement. Let’s see a few examples to understand this:
- Yayy! We are going to the picnic tomorrow.
- Hurray! India won the match against Pakistan in the world cup.
- Bravo! Our school boys showed a great amount of team-work at the inter-school football competition.
4. To express disappointment or sadness or remorse or denial, we use an exclamation mark. Let’s see a few examples to understand this:
- Alas! I did not make it to the volleyball team at school.
- Oh no! She fell hard from the stairs and broke her rib.
- No way! I am not going to go to Goa in the rainy season.
- How irritating! My sister is always making noise when I try to read the book.
Note: You will see people using many exclamation marks after a sentence. One does the job enough. There is really no need to use it multiple times unless the tone really demands it. Don’t get influenced by what you see on social media for English grammar.
Now that you have learned all the use cases and don’ts of the exclamation mark, you can go on ahead and try a few examples yourself. It’s really fun! And remember to not get swayed by the social media with the crazy multiple uses of the exclamation marks.
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