Choose the correct Exclamatory Sentence for the given Assertive Sentence from the options given below.
The moonlight very sweetly sleeps upon this bank.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → How sweetly does the moonlight sleep upon this bank!
Assertive to exclamatory:
| Change | Assertive | Exclamatory | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening words | very sweetly | How sweetly | An assertive sentence with “very” + adverb (“very sweetly”) becomes exclamatory with “How” + adverb. “Very” is dropped because “How” now carries the emphasis. |
| Word order | The moonlight ... sleeps | does the moonlight sleep | After “How + adverb”, literary English often uses the inverted order with “does”: “does the moonlight sleep”. The verb must still agree with the subject and keep its tense (simple present). |
| End mark | (.) | (!) | The full stop becomes an exclamation mark, and the rest of the sentence (“upon this bank”) is kept. |
| Full sentence | The moonlight very sweetly sleeps upon this bank. | How sweetly does the moonlight sleep upon this bank! |
Example: She sings very beautifully. → How beautifully she sings!
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: How sweetly the moonlight sleep on this bank! — Incorrect.
- The verb "sleep" does not agree with the singular subject "the moonlight". In the normal order it must be "sleeps".
- It also changes "upon" to "on".
Option 3: The moonlight is sweet on this bank! — Incorrect. It keeps the assertive word order and only adds an exclamation mark. It also drops the verb "sleeps" and changes the meaning.
Option 4: How sweet is moonlight on this bank! — Incorrect. It replaces "sleeps" with "is" and the adverb "sweetly" with the adjective "sweet", so the action of the original is lost. "The" before "moonlight" is also dropped.