Hey, everyone! Glad you landed on this site. Are you in for some new English grammar points today? Oh, we would love to go through this entire page with you. Time to brush up your knowledge on interjections.
An interjection is a part of speech that conveys emotions such as excitement, dismay, surprise, enthusiasm, and more. It can be a single word or phrase that usually comes at the beginning of a sentence. Interjections do not generally have a grammatical value or connection to the sentence.
Primary interjections are individual words or sounds that do not have any other meanings or uses but only as interjections. Check out the list below.
| Common Primary Interjections | |
| Aah (expresses fear) | Oh (means I see or I think) |
| Ahh (implies acceptance or realization) | Oops (indicates that a mistake happened) |
| Eww (something is disgusting) | Ouch (expresses pain) |
| Hey (call someone’s attention) | Whew (expresses relief) |
| Hmph (something is displeasing) | Yay/Yipee/Hurrah (an exclamation of celebration or victory) |
| Hmm (thinking about something) | Uh/Um (indicates a pause) |
Examples:
Besides the primary type, secondary interjections also exist. These are words or phrases that are originally derived from other words belonging to other parts of speech.
In the first example above, the word “awesome’ is originally used as an adjective. As with the second example, the words used in “oh my goodness” are also derived from other grammatical functions.
Other secondary interjections include:
The intensity of a remark or emotion is key in choosing appropriate punctuations for interjections. For mild intensity, use a comma and a full stop. To express stronger emotions, use an exclamation mark.
Aside from punctuation, it is necessary to know when to use interjections. Generally, these are used in speaking, but not much in writing. It is best to avoid using an interjection in formal writing, especially in business.