Inverted Exclamation Mark

It warns the reader that an emphatic phrase is starting. Spanish uses paired punctuation marks so spoken intonation is clear on the page from the start of the exclamatory phrase. Unlike standard English, which lacks a matching opening mark, Spanish punctuation flags the emphatic tone directly at the phrase's outset.

The mark belongs right where the exclamatory phrase begins, which is not always the start of the sentence. In a phrase like Pero ¡qué niño tan guapo! (“But what a handsome boy!”), the introductory word stays outside the marks, and the word immediately following ¡ remains in lowercase because the sentence began earlier.