Grammar-Quizzes › Adverbials › Stance Adverbs › Interjections
Interjections
Express a short emotional response
Interjections
| INTERJECTIONS |
|---|
In speech, an interjection is a short emotional response or sentiment inserted before a sentence. An interjection may be a word, phrase or short sentence. It exists outside of the usually grammatical structure of a clause or sentence. |
| INTERJECTIONS |
Uh. Which one should I eat? (pause) Wow! This tastes good. (surprise) Oops. I dropped it. (embarrassment) |
| EXCLAMATIONS |
Hey! What do you have there? Ooh! May I have that apple? Excellent! Thank you! |
| SOUNDS |
Psst. Pass this note to that guy. Ugh! I won't eat this. Whew! My boss nearly caught me napping. |
| OTHER WORDING |
|---|
In writing, the same sentiment (feeling) is expressed grammatically within the structure of the clause or sentence, for example, with a verbal phrase, an adverb or some other expression which captures the meaning. |
| IN OTHER WORDS |
He pauses and asks which one he should eat. He is surprised that it tastes good. He embarrassedly admits to dropping it. |
| IN OTHER WORDS |
He catches my attention and asks me what I had. He really wants the apple. He is pleased and grateful me. |
| IN OTHER WORDS |
He is getting my attention and asking me to pass a note. He firmly refuses to eat something. He is relieved that his boss did not see him sleeping. |
An interjection my be followed by either a period or an exclamation mark.
(Huddleston 15 §5.2)
Interjection List
Review some short responses
Interjections
| AFFIRM ATION | NEGATION |
|---|---|
Yes! Yeah! (informal) Yep! (informal) Indeed! |
No! Nah! Nope! |
Uh-huh Certainly! You bet! Sure! |
Unh Unh! As if! No way! Not a chance! |
Correct. Right. |
Incorrect. Wrong. |
Maybe! Perhaps! Uh / Um (pause to consider) |
Unlikely. Not a clue! (don't know) Beats me! (don't know) |
Agreed. OK / Okay. All right! / You got it! Absolutely! |
No deal! (no agreement) Nope! Dream on! Not happening! |
| ATTTENTION | SURPRISE |
|---|---|
Hi! Hey! Yo! Hiya! |
Ouch! (pain) Ow! Oh! Ha! / Ho! |
Bye! See ya! Ciao! So long! |
Wow! / Whoa! Gee! Golly! Yikes |
Shh! (quiet) Tsk tsk! (too bad) |
Aww! (cute) Ooh! |
Hey! Ahoy! Yoohoo! |
Oh my god! Holy smokes! Jeez! (Jesus) |
Ahem! Say! Psst! Dude! Hey man! |
What! (disbelief, disapproval) Hunh! (disbelief) Seriously! (disapproval) Well! (disapproval) |
An interjection my be followed by either a period or an exclamation mark.
| DISAPPOINTMENT | SUCCESS |
|---|---|
Sorry! (apology) Excuse me! (apology) Pardon me! (apology) My bad! (informal-apology) |
Great! Awesome! Yeow! Super! |
Darn! Dang! Dammit! |
Hooray! Yay! Yahoo! |
Oops! / Uh oh! (error) Shoot! / Shit! (informal-error) Whoops! (error) Rats! / Drat! (error) |
Woohoo! Woot!! Nailed it! Sweet! |
Eh! (disparaging) Enh! (uninteresting) Meh! (so-so) |
Pretty good! (almost good) Not bad! Well done! |
Look out! (danger!) Ouch! (pain) Oof! |
Aha! (discovery) Oho! Eureka! (discovery) |
| SOCIAL COMMENTS | SLANG |
|---|---|
Please! Thanks! Pretty please! (persuasion) Why, thank you! (surprise) |
Rad! (approval) Cool! (approval) Dope! Sick! (approval) |
Hallelujah! (relief) Amen! Whew! Phew! |
Doh! (frustration) Arg! / Argh! (frustration) Ah! / Ack! (frustration) |
Congratulations! Good job! Well done! / Way to go! inf Happy Birthday! |
Duh! (it's obvious) Like duh! (it's obvious) Well yeah! (it's obvious) Uh hunh! (it's obvious) |
No problem! My pleasure! Welcome! |
Kidding! (not true; playing) Joking! Really! (not believable) |
Mmm! (good–sensory) Yum! / Yummy! Aah! |
Eww! Ehew! (bad–sensory) Ich! / Yuck! (disapproving) Ugh! (disapproving) |
inf. – informal
Grammar Notes (Advanced)
Traditional and Linguistic Descriptions
Traditional vs. Linguistic Descriptions
| TRADITIONAL DESCRIPTION |
|---|
"Exclamations are often constructed with how and what or with so and such; negative question forms are also common." How nice!; What a find!; You're so kind! (Swan 195) |
H. And Other Parts of Speech as an Interjection. Almost any word can serve as a variation: Excellent! (Adj); Fool! (N); Stop! (V); Quick! (Adv); You! (pronoun); As if! (conj.). Also called exclamation. (Garner 382) |
| LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
|---|
"An interjection is a category of words that do not combine with other words in integrated syntactic constructions, and have expressive rather than propositional meaning." |
Prefaces or prefactory words orient the listener to the following words. Types include discourse markers (well, right), interjections (oh, yeah, okay), stance adverbs (anyway) and linking adverbs (so, then). (Biber 1074)
|
Works Cited
- Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English. Pearson Education, 1999.
- Garner's Modern American Usage, Bryan A. Garner, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2009.
- Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.
- Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.
Practice 1
Reactions to Art
Decide which interjection fits the situation.
- Select your response from the list.
- Compare your responses to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 1-10" button.
IMAGE
"Yin Yang" by Robert Arneson, 1992. Bronze with white patina located in Sue Bierman Park near the Embarcadero and Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco, California, USA.
Social Interjections
Offer good wishes and compliments
Day Greetings and Personal Greetings
Day and holiday greetings are short phrases expressing good wishes. They are phrases expressing emotion. Complimentary greetings may be returned (exchanged) or answered with "Thank you." or "Same to you!"
Happy Birthday! / Happy New Year! / Happy 4th of July!
Merry Christmas! Season's Greetings!
Best wishes! / Best of luck!
Good day! / Have a good day!
What a beautiful day it is!
How perfect a day is this? (not a true question)
Personal greetings range from acknowledging a person's presence to offering a complimentary remark. Most greetings are met with a short answer. Some greetings are worded as questions with no expectation of an answer.
Hello! / Hi! / Hello there!
Good to see you! / Nice to see you!
Looking good! How wonderful you look!
You haven't changed a bit!
What a joy to see you!
How Bobby has grown! (a lot)
See How vs. What interjections.
Also see Pop-Q How | Pop-Q New Years | Pop-Q Whataboutery.