http://www.englishforums.com/search/pro.htm?q=tag%3aExclamation+marks+tag%3aWord+orderSearch results for 'tag:Exclamation marks tag:Word order' matching tags 'Exclamation marks' and 'Word order'en-USCSMOD (Build: 3256.36449)http://www.englishforums.com/English/Inversion/zwhrl/post.htm#458943Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:53:29 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:458943Clive<P>Hi,</P> <P><FONT color=#0000ff>Boy, is it hot today! IS IT OK? </FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#0000ff>SHOULDN'T IT RATHER BE: Boy, it is hot today!</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#000000>It's OK. It's just a way of using word order to add emphasis.</FONT></P> <P>In terms of grammar, one could argue that it is a rhetorical question (ie a question for which no real answer is expected), and that there should therefore be a question mark rather than an exclamation mark.</P> <P>Happy new year, Clive</P>http://www.englishforums.com/English/BeyondGoodAndEvil/zvvpd/post.htm#438671Sun, 04 Nov 2007 16:13:57 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:438671Clive<P>Hello Cadzao,</P> <P>How are you?</P> <P>This looks like a question, but it is not intended as one. It's intended as an&nbsp;exclamation.&nbsp;Think of it as the exclamation&nbsp;"What questions&nbsp;this will . . .&nbsp;has . . .&nbsp;laid before us!", but with an unusual, literary word order.</P> <P>You could also think of it as&nbsp;a rhetorical question, used only to draw attention to the questions that have been 'laid before us'. If you think of it in that way&nbsp;then, strictly speaking, it&nbsp;should have a question mark, but the author has chosen the exclamation mark to emphasize that it's intended as an exclamation.</P> <P>Best wishes, Clive</P>