HOW で始まる疑問文が、実は質問ではないとき

"How" can be used for emphasis—how cool is that!

英語を話す人たちは、よく強い言葉を使います。例えば、: 

How long was that meeting! 

そのほかにも、: 

  • How funny is he! 
  • How hard was that test! 
  • How hot is it today!

これらの文章は、疑問文形式ですが、実は、強い主張です。質問としての文章か、強い主張として文章か、その違いはイントネーションにあります。

If "How long was that meeting?" is a question, your tone should rise at the end—it is the typical intonation for a question. 

But for example, if you and your colleague are leaving the office after a four-hour meeting, you could say, "How long was that meeting!" In this case, it is an exclamation. You should stress the main adjective (in this case, "long"), by saying it longer and stronger, and your tone should fall on the last word. 

The same pattern is found in phrases that end in "isn't it" or "wasn't it." In fact, using that pattern is a very common way to respond to the first phrase: 

A: How funny was that movie!
B: It was funny, wasn't it!

Though what A and B both said could be used as questions, here, they aren't questions at all.  

So, try using this pattern to make a strong statement in your next class. How easy is that!