what is it?
Spanish uses two closely related structures covered here. First, exclamative sentences built with ¡qué + adjective/adverb! (e.g. ¡qué caro!, ¡qué bien!) or ¡qué + noun! without an article (e.g. ¡qué vida!), which express strong reactions. A related fixed pattern, ¡que + subjunctive!, functions as a set exhortative wish (e.g. ¡que tengas un buen viaje!). Second, impersonal weather expressions using the verb hacer in the third-person singular with no subject (hace calor, hace frío, hace sol), and the construction estar + a + number + grados for stating a temperature. Both sets of structures are impersonal: no noun or pronoun acts as a grammatical subject.
when to use it
¡Qué + adjective/adverb! — use this to react to a quality or manner: the adjective describes a noun already in context, or the adverb modifies a verb. The exclamation can stand alone or be followed by a full clause.
¡Qué + noun! (no article) — use this to express a strong feeling about a situation or concept. The noun carries the emotional weight; adding an article would make it a regular noun phrase, not an exclamation.
¡Que + subjunctive! (exhortative) — use this for fixed wishes or farewells directed at someone else (¡que aproveche!, ¡que tengas un buen viaje!). These are formulaic and learned as set phrases at A2.
Hace + weather noun — use this to describe current or habitual weather conditions. The verb hacer is always third-person singular and has no subject.
Estamos a + number + grados — use this to state the exact temperature. The preposition a is obligatory before the number.
formation
The table below shows the core patterns. Note that qué carries a written accent in exclamations and questions, distinguishing it from the conjunction que used in the exhortative.
| pattern | formula | example | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| exclamative + adjective | ¡qué + adjective (+ verb phrase)! | ¡Qué caro es este restaurante! | How expensive this restaurant is! |
| exclamative + adverb | ¡qué + adverb (+ verb phrase)! | ¡Qué bien cocinas! | How well you cook! |
| exclamative + noun | ¡qué + noun (no article)! | ¡Qué vida! | What a life! |
| exhortative wish | ¡que + present subjunctive! | ¡Que tengas un buen viaje! | Have a good trip! / I hope you have a good trip! |
| impersonal weather | hace + weather noun | Hace mucho calor en verano. | It is very hot in summer. |
| temperature with estar | estamos a + number + grados | Estamos a quince grados. | It is fifteen degrees. |
Common weather nouns used with hacer: calor (heat), frío (cold), sol (sunshine), viento (wind). These nouns do not take an article after hacer.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Do not insert an article after qué in an exclamation. English «what a…» uses an article, but Spanish does not. *¡qué un día tan bonito! is wrong; the correct form is ¡qué día tan bonito!. The noun follows ¡qué! directly.
Do not add a subject to the impersonal verb hacer. Weather expressions with hacer are subjectless. *El tiempo hace calor is ungrammatical. Use simply hace calor. The English dummy subject «it» has no equivalent here.
Do not omit the preposition a before a temperature number. The construction requires estar a + number. *Estamos quince grados is wrong; the correct form is estamos a quince grados.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Mira este abrigo: cien euros en rebajas. ¡___ precio tan bueno!
Fill in the blank with the correct exclamative word.