INTERJECTIONS

DEFINITIONS & EXAMPLES

Interjections are words that express expresses a particular emotion or feeling of the speaker. It is used to express the internal or sudden feelings like joy, sorrow, emotions, and excitements. Interjections are usually accompanied with an interjection mark (!)

Examples of interjections: Oh, Oops, Ouch, Goodness, etc.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Oh, no! I can’t go with you.

(2) Oops! The door slapped.

(3) Ouch! The cat scratched me.

(4) Goodness! The river is overflowing.

(5) Oy! You forgot your wallet!

(6) Shh, I'm trying to hear what they're saying!

(7) Wow, that's incredible!

(8) Aha! So you took my money!

(9) Boo, get off the stage!

(10) I just deleted all my files. Doh!

(11) Eeek, a mouse!

(12) So she dumped you, eh?

For a sentence to express some sense of strong feeling, it needs an interjection. See the examples below:

(1) (Without interjection) The pitch looks amazing.

(2) (With interjection) Wow! The pitch looks amazing!

In the second example, an interjection 'Wow' has been added to express strong feeling of the speaker about the pitch.

LIST OF INTERJECTIONS

(A) ONE WORD INTERJECTIONS

Cheers!
Duh!
EEK!
Gee!
Really?
Huh?
Incredible!
Bang!
Look!
My!
Never!
Oops!
Quit!
Shoot!
Ugh!
Woot!
Hurray!
Wow!
Amazing!

(B) PHRASE INTERJECTIONS

I don't agree with that!
That makes sense!
I found it!
That's scary!
Get out!
I don't believe it!
I'm amazed!
What was that?
That's amazing!
See that!
Oh dear!
I don't believe it!
Stop that!
That's not good!
I don't like that!
Shame on you!
Not good!

USES OF INTERJECTIONS

Interjections are words that can be used to perform or express one of the following situations:

(1) Emotion: Wow! Ouch! Hoorah!

(2) Surprise: Wow!),

(3) Confusion: Huh?

(4) Outrage: No!

(5) Greetings: Hi! Hey! Halo!

(6) Agreement: OK! Yes! Yeah!

(7) Disagreement: No! Nah! Nope!

(8) Sounds: EEK! Aww! Argh! Phew! Grr! Yikes!

FUNCTIONS OF INTERJECTIONS

Also, interjections can function as a noun, a verb, or an adverb.

Examples:

Noun as an interjection:

(1) Foolishness! What are you doing!

(2) Goodness! What's that!

Verb as an interjection:

(1) Shoot! That's a great chance!

(2) Clap! What a performance!

Adverb as an interjection:

(1) Really! You must be joking!

(2) Nope! Wait for my permission.

TYPES OF INTERJECTIONS & EXAMPLES

Interjections are classified into five types according to the meaning and use in a sentence. They are:

1. MILD INTERJECTIONS

These are interjections used to fill pauses or show milder feelings.

Examples of mild interjections are: Oh, oops, gee, er, oh well, phew, um, well, goodness, rats, my, oh dear, thanks, etc.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Oh well! Let's go.

(2) Goodness! How is that possible?

(3) Oh! This is an amazing story!

(4) My word!

2. STRONG INTERJECTIONS

These are interjections used to express surprise, alarm, delight, or other strong emotions.

Examples of strong interjections are: Bravo, wow, hurrah, yeah, help, horrors, ouch, whoa, congratulations, look, yippee, etc.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Yeah! I'm not it.

(2) Help!

(3) Bravo! We are champions!

(4) Wow! This is exciting!

3. VOLITIVE INTERJECTIONS

These are kinds of interjections used as imperatives or demands for something to someone.

Examples:

(1) Hurry!

(2) Shh! Be quiet! They are here.

(3) Shoot!

4. EMOTIVE INTERJECTIONS

These are used to show emotions like joy, fear, disgust, or anger.

Examples:

(1) Ouch! It hurts.

(2) Eek! she's come.

(3) Yuck! This is disgusting!

5. COGNITIVE INTERJECTIONS

These types of interjections are used to express feelings related to cognition.

Examples:

(1) Hurrah! We made it.

(2) Wow! What a surprise!

OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS OF INTERJECTIONS

Interjections can also be classified in terms of the situations and context of the speaker as follows:

1. INTERJECTIONS OF SURPISE

These are used to express the feeling of surprise for any incident that has happened.

Examples: Oh, ooh, wow, my word, my goodness, goodness me, ah, ha.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Oh, what a nice cap!

(2) Ooh, what a lovely dress!

(3) Wow! I really never knew that!

(4) My goodness me! It's raining!

(5) My word! She has come already?

(6) Oh boy! She's not here!

(7) Ah! I got my first salary.

(8) What! Are you serious?

(9) Oh! I met him in Dar es Salaam.

(10) Ha! What a surprise.

2. INTERJECTIONS OF GREETING

These express the emotion or feelings when someone meet with another person.

Examples: Hi, hello, hey.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Hi!

(2) Hi there!

(3) Hi! How are you?

(4) Hello!

(5) Hello there!

(6) Hello! I'm Seif, your new lecturer.

(7) Hey! What are you doing today?

3. INTERJECTIONS OF PLEASURE

These are used to express pleasure.

Examples: Hoorey! Yeah! Hmm!

Examples of sentences:

(1) Hooray! Our team has won.

(2) Yeah! I love it.

(3) Hmm! It's delicious.

4. INTERJECTIONS OF ELATION(JOY)

These are used to express the feelings of joy or happiness.

Examples: Hurrah, Good, Congratulations.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Good! That's the point!

(2) Congratulations! Now we are into the semifinal!

(3) Wow! You look so beautiful!

(4) We’ve done it! Hurrah!

(5) Hurrah! We won the match!

(6) Yippee! We won, let’s celebrate.

(7) Ha! So I have won the lottery!

(8) Woo hoo! I won it!

5. INTERJECTIONS OF RELIEF

These interjections are used by people to show a feeling of relief on something.

Examples: Whoa, phew.

Examples of sentences:

(1) I have failed a test, but my mom hasn't checked it. Phew!

(2) Whoa, take it easy!

(3) Whew! I can’t believe we have finished this job.

6. INTERJECTIONS OF BOREDOM

These are used when someone wants to express boredom or how bored they are.

Examples: Blah!

Examples of sentences:

(1) This is disgusting!

(2) Don't come here and talk blah blah?

(3) Blah! Why can’t I finish this work?

7. INTERJECTIONS OF DOUBT

These are used to express doubt or disbelief in something.

Examples:...er..., um.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Um, I don't if they will come.

(2) Mwanza is a headquarters of....er... East Africa.

(3) Hmm, not sure if that is correct.

(4) Um, I don’t know if she'll like it.

8. INTERJECTIONS OF PITY/SORROW

These interjections are used to express sadness, pity, or sorrow on, something terrible that has happened.

Examples: Oh dear, alas, oops, ah, ouch.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Oh dear, You'll be okay.

(2) Ouch! It hurts a lot.

(3) Alas, my ATM card isn't working.

(4) Help! I'm in big trouble.

(5) Oops! Sorry. It was my fault.

(6) Alas! He broke his leg.

9. INTERJECTIONS OF REALISATION

These are used when someone realises something he/she did not expect.

Examples: Ah, Aha.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Ah, what a lovely baby!

(2) Aha, it was a fox!

10. INTERJECTIONS OF APPROVAL/AGREEMENT

The interjections of approval are used to express approval or agreement in a sentence.

Examples: Bravo! Brilliant! Well done! You bet!

Examples of sentences:

(1) Bravo! You did it!

(2) Brilliant! You're really genius!

(3) Well done! You have done it successfully.

11. INTERJECTIONS OF DISAPPROVAL/DISAGREEMENT

The interjections of approval are used to express disapproval or disagreement in a sentence.

Examples: No! Nah! Nope! tsk tsk! Tut tut!

Examples of sentences:

(1) No! I can't do that!

(2) Nope! Don't do anything until I come back.

12. INTERJECTIONS OF IMITATION

These interjections are used to express the imitation of the action or an idea.

Examples: Oy, hmph, huh, hey.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Oy my legs hurt!

(2) Hey! Look out!

(3) Don’t blame Jack. It’s your fault. Hmph!

(4) Huh! Try to understand before you judge.

13. INTERJECTIONS OF ATTENTION

The Interjections of attention are used to get someone's attention.

Examples: Look, shh, hush, behold.

Examples of sentences:

(1) Look here!

(2) Look! The computer isn't working.

(3) Shh! keep quiet! Professor is here!

(4) Shut up!

(5) Behold! I I've something to say.

(5) Hush! The baby is sleeping!

REFERENCES

https://onlymyenglish.com/interjection-types/

11-03-222

https://www.englishbix.com/types-of-interjections-with-examples/

11-03-222

GET THE PARTS OF SPEECH BOOK ("Elevate your Basic English Grammar: Parts of Speech") (pdf) for TZS 2,000/= Only Or the THE FULL GRAMMAR BOOK ("Elevate Your Basic English Grammar") (pdf) for TZS 8,000/= Only.

Contact us: WHATSAPP: +255 622 009 566

OR BUY IT HERE!

GET MORE BOOKS FROM KACHELE ONLINE: