que + Adjective!

Exclamations with Que

Level 2

Start an exclamation with que + adjective, adverb or noun: Que bonito! (How pretty!), Que ben! (Great!), Que frío fai! (It is so cold!).

How It Works

Que + adjective or adverb: Que bonito!, Que caro!, Que ben cantas! (You sing so well!). The adjective agrees with what it describes: Que bonita é a praia!

Que + noun: Que frío!, Que sorte! (What luck!). A verb can follow: Que frío fai!

Que + noun + tan or máis + adjective: Que casa tan bonita! or Que casa máis bonita! (What a beautiful house!)

Canto for quantity: canto agrees in gender and number with the noun: Canto traballo!, Canta xente!, Cantos coches!, Cantas cousas! With a verb it means how much: Canto traballamos! See how much and how many.

Como + verb: como stresses how intense an action is: Como chove! (It is really pouring!)

Spelling: que and canto never take a written accent in Galician, in exclamations or in questions. For the use of the opening exclamation mark, see question and exclamation marks.

Examples (6)

Que bonito!
How pretty!
Word by Word: What pretty!
Que frío fai!
It is so cold!
Word by Word: What cold makes!
Que + noun, followed by the verb.
Que ben cantas!
You sing so well!
Word by Word: What well sing-you!
Que also works with adverbs such as ben.
Que casa tan bonita!
What a beautiful house!
Word by Word: What house so pretty!
Que + noun + tan + adjective.
Canta xente hai aquí!
There are so many people here!
Word by Word: How-much(f.) people there-is here!
Canta is feminine to agree with xente.
Cantos libros tes!
You have so many books!
Word by Word: How-many books have-you!
Cantos is masculine plural to agree with libros.

Common Mistakes

Writing an accent on que.
Qué bonito!
Que bonito!
In Galician, exclamative and interrogative que has no written accent.
Using the Spanish spelling cuanta.
Cuanta xente!
Canta xente!
The Galician word is canto, canta, cantos, cantas, without u.
Not making canto agree with the noun.
Canto xente!
Canta xente!
Xente is feminine singular, so canto becomes canta.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

que + Adjective!Level 2Exclamations with Que

Learn This First

Que introduces an exclamation about degree, while canto expresses quantity.

Words in This Pattern

cantocantacantoscantas

Practice que + Adjective! in Bubblegum

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