An exclamation point (!) is used at the end of a sentence to indicate surprise, anger, or another expression of emotion or urgency (Yes! Stop! Fire! Get out!). It replaces the period and if part of a quotation is placed within the quotation marks:Heaven help us!
"Come here!" he ordered. Exclamation points are commonly used after interjections and oaths (Damn! Hell! Ow!), words expressing loud noises (Bang! Crash!), warnings (Careful! Watch out!), commands (Be quiet! Run!), and insults or other verbal assaults (You pig! Screw you!). They may also be used with such words as how or what in expressions of delight, disgust, outrage, pleasure, etc. (How lovely! What cheek!), sometimes having the effect of turning what would otherwise be a question into a statement (Isn't she a scream! Aren't we lucky!). They may also be used at the end of longer sentences as an indication of strong emotion:We're fed up with being taken for granted around here!
This is the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me or my family! Note that the presence of an exclamation point can determine the way in which the sentence concerned is interpreted or spoken:The old lady is dying.
The old lady is dying?
The old lady is dying! The period at the end of the first example makes the sentence a simple statement of fact. The question mark at the end of the second example makes it a query, with a suggestion of an emotional interest in the answer. The exclamation point at the end of the third example transforms it into an expression of surprise, delight, horror, or dismay, as dictated by the context.Exclamation points are occasionally employed within the body of sentences, usually in subordinate phrases enclosed by parentheses or dashes:The great lady did not (thank heavens!) want to see the kitchen.
The ball left the bat—the same one he had previously refused!—like the proverbial rocket. Restraint should always be used with regard to exclamation points, since their overuse blunts their impact and may convey the impression that the writer is being insincere or overexcitable. They should rarely, if ever, be employed in formal writing, in which the tone should always be moderate rather than excitable, and they should never be doubled or tripled except in very informal contexts.
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