According to
Grammarly, "exclamation points go at the end of exclamatory sentences. This sentence expresses a strong or forceful emotion — such as anger, surprise, or joy.”
Exclamations set the tone of a piece. They indicate surprise and astonishment. They show when strong commands or requests are at play, and they set the intensity behind dialogue in quotes.
They can also be used after exclamatory phrases or words:
- "I am so proud of you!"
- "Careful! It's hot."
As seen above, exclamations replace full stops or periods in direct and indirect quotes, taking their exact place. They can be used in parentheses as well, still maintaining the position that a full stop or period would.
While using this mark is meant to create emphasis and draw the right emotion out of a word or phrase, using
too many has the opposite effect — even making it look less professional at times.
This then
impairs your copy rather than assisting it.
Have any questions that you want to be explained in more detail? Reach out in the comment section!
More punctuation tips are on the way! But don’t disappear in the interim — why not check out these Five rules for concise writing instead?
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