Choose the correct option to change the following statement to an exclamatory statement:
Major Dhyanchand was a great hockey player
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → What a great hockey player Major Dhyanchand was!
Assertive to exclamatory (What + a + adjective + noun):
| Change | Assertive | Exclamatory | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening words | a great hockey player | What a great hockey player | The feeling is about a noun with an adjective, “a great hockey player”, so the sentence begins with “What a great hockey player”. |
| Word order | Major Dhyanchand was a great hockey player | What a great hockey player Major Dhyanchand was | Subject and verb follow in the normal order, and the tense stays the same: “was” remains “was”. |
| End mark | (.) | (!) | The full stop becomes an exclamation mark. |
| Full sentence | Major Dhyanchand was a great hockey player. | What a great hockey player Major Dhyanchand was! |
Example: It was a beautiful sunset. → What a beautiful sunset it was!
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: What a great hockey player Major Dhyanchand is! — Incorrect. The tense changes from "was" to "is".
Option 3: What great hockey player Major Dhyanchand had been! — Incorrect. The article "a" is missing, and "had been" changes the tense.
Option 4: How great hockey player Major Dhyanchand is! — Incorrect. "How" cannot come before "adjective + noun" in this way, and the tense changes to "is".