12 Interrogative and exclamatory forms
NOTE Interrogative and exclamatory elements always carry a written accent, whether in direct or
indirect questions and exclamations (see 1.5.3).29.3 (p. 155); 30.3 (p. 172); 31.2 (p. 187); 36.2 (p. 214); 43.1 (p. 253)
12.1¿Cómo?/¡Cómo!
¿Cómo está usted?
How are you?¿Cómo es tu novia? (see 36.2)
What is your girlfriend like?
¿Cómo no me lo advertiste? (see 43.1)
Why didn’t you warn me?¡Cómo trabaja mi hermana!
How my sister works!
Pedro me preguntó cómo lo sabía.
Pedro asked me how I knew.
Of all the interrogatives/exclamations, English ‘how’+ adjective is the one which
offers most complexity in Spanish. Often Spanish has a completely different structure
from English:¿Cómo es de grande?
How big is it?
¿Cuánto tiene de largo/ancho/alto?
How long/wide/high is it?
¡Qué cansado estoy!
How tired I am.No sabía lo atrevida (note agreement, see 2.8) que era.
I never knew how daring she was.