P3 and P4 Composition Phrases to describe happiness and excitement

In our P3 class this month, Teacher Pauline will be teaching the students more phrases on how to describe emotions in their compositions. The students will be given a list of phrases to describe happiness, excitement, curiosity, sadness, and relief. The phrases will prove useful in getting them to expand upon their ideas and lengthening their weekly compositions.

Being able to describe how a character feels is essential in every composition. Despite being a short piece of writing, a character should grow and develop from the start of the story to the end of a story. A character may feel sad at the start because he believes that everyone has forgotten his birthday. Then happy and excited at the end when he realises that everyone had in fact planned a surprise party for him.

Below is the list of phrases to describe happiness and excitement. I hope that these phrases will be useful for you too. Remember to select only a few that you like to use in your story. And space them out nicely in your paragraph like what one of our students has done below.🙂

“Surprise!” everyone shouted. John’s eyes widened in shock as he took a step back. All his friends and family members were beaming at him. John looked at the party decorations and delicious food on the table. He felt a surge of excitement. It was a surprise birthday party for him! He was speechless with joy when he saw the mountain of birthday presents waiting for him. All his friends crowded around him, wishing him a happy birthday. John grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Words and Phrases describing Happiness

• beamed at
• festive atmosphere
• roared its approval
• laughing and giggling
• a ready smile
• a hearty laugh
• rejoiced
• skipped with joy
• rubbed his hands with glee
• speechless with joy
• merrymaking
• ecstatic
• tears of happiness
• a row of gleaming teeth
• rolling in the aisles
• her sides would split with laughter
• laughed their heads off
• grinning like a Cheshire cat
• grinning from ear to ear
• on cloud nine
• high spirits
• seventh heaven
• on top of the world
• hugged himself for joy

Words and Phrases describing Excitement

• caused a sensation
• ripples of excitement
• delirious with excitement
• a state of feverish anticipation
• a surge of excitement
• keyed up
• cheered boisterously
• at fever pitch
• bated breath
• flushed with excitement
• sheer thrill of it
• hullabaloo died down
• a flurry of excited activity
• intoxicating thrill
• felt a shiver of excitement down his spine
• adrenaline surge
• a buzz of excitement
• hair-raising
• butterflies in our stomachs
• went wild
• a ripple of excitement