What is an interjection? Interjections for Authors Ahem– The sound of someone clearing their throat in an attempt to get your attention […] What is an interjection? Looking for an interjection definition? This emotion word doesn’t mean that there are rodents running around. Example sentences containing interjection An interjection is a word that expresses a strong emotion. As the 18th-century philologist Rowland Jones observed, "It appears that interjections make up a considerable part of our language." Indeed, a biography of the famed illustrator uses the phrase in just that way: Since interjections depend so heavily on how they are used in speech, the punctuation they take varies greatly, according to context, but they are usually followed by an exclamation point when standing alone or a comma when introducing a sentence. And that thought certainly deserves a loud and forceful Youwza! It is mostly seen in informal language. Many times, as within the examples of interjections below, you'll notice many interjections are followed by an exclamation point. These words or phrases can stand alone, or be placed before or after a sentence. The table below shows some interjections with examples. These words have fixed meanings, so whenever they are used; the listener automatically understands the emotion of the speaker. Examples Include: Congratulations! If that doesn't satisfy your need to express your emotions, we have an even bigger list of interjections that you can download and print - which is perfect for helping kids learn about interjecting. What Is An Interjection? One of the more intriguing characteristics of interjections is their multifunctionality: The same word may express praise or scorn, excitement or boredom, joy or despair. Goodbye! The most widely used interjections in English include hey, oops, ouch, gee, oh, ah, ooh, eh, ugh, aw, yo, wow, brr, sh, and yippee. In your writing, it's up to you how you'd like to punctuate. Hardcover, First Edition edition, Pharos Books, September 1, 1989. Depending on the context, you might want to consider italicization over exclamation. It's now customary to divide interjections into two broad classes: Primary interjections are single words (such as ah, brr, eww, hmm,  ooh, and yowza) that are not derived from any other word class, are used only as interjections, and don't enter into syntactic constructions. Unlike the comparatively straightforward denotations of other parts of speech, the meanings of interjections are largely determined by intonation, context, and what linguists call pragmatic function, such as: "Geez, you really had to be there.". Interjection Definition and Examples What is an interjection? They can express a wide variety of emotions such as: excitement, joy, surprise, or disgust. Interjection: Definition & Types (5 / 5, 98 votes) Tweet; An interjection is a kind of exclamation inserted into regular speech. An interjection may be used to exclaim such as “Wow!,” protest such as “Ouch!,” or command such as “Shh!.” Strong emotions are also exclamations and are followed by an exclamation mark. Interjections for Greeting. We lost him. Oh! Linguists and grammarians have even segregated interjections into different categories. An interjection is in the vocative case and has no grammatical relation with any other word in the sentence. The following section of the post describes more … It does not enter into the construction of the sentence. The words which are used to express a strong or sudden feeling or emotion are called as interjections. Interjections for Joy This type of interjection is used in the sentence to indicate immediate joy and happiness on any happy occasion occurred such as hurrah, wow, … On such various types of emotions we classified them into different types. Congratulations! Oh, Wow, Hurrah, Alas, Ouch, Oops, Aha, Yahoo, Eww, e.t.c. e.g. Put another way, an interjection is a short utterance that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone. Here are some examples of interjections and their definitions: Ahem - The sound of someone clearing their throat in an attempt to get your attention. The exclamation point, then, does not come until the end of the connected sentence. Though interjections are one of the traditional parts of speech, they are grammatically unrelated to any other part of a sentence. Interjections are followed by a Exclamation Mark. They are usually followed by an exclamation mark (or comma). Interjection is a part of speech in English language. In English, these interjectors are occasionally classified as function words: that is, they provide structure in support of nearby content words. But again, the primary interjection could stand alone—and be followed by an exclamation point—as in: The third example contains a secondary interjection Oh my God that stands apart from the second sentence, with the interjection and sentence both ending in exclamation points. Knowing the different kinds of interjections, and understanding how to punctuate them, will help you use them correctly. In writing, an interjection is typically followed by an exclamation point, but it can also be followed by a comma if it is part of a sentence. Examples Include: Nice! “Hi”, he said as he moved into the room. they mean they don't want to taste, touch, see, feel, or smell something again. They aren't marked inflectionally for grammatical categories such as tense or number. When writing, interjections are followed by an exclamation (!). Let’s begin by answering the question “What is an interjection” in broad terms. Copyright © 2020 LoveToKnow. Are you serious? Hey! example 9) but exceptions are always there (refer example 5). Nouns are used as interjections to react to a situation. Secondary interjections (such as bless you, congratulations, good grief, hey, hi, oh my, oh my God, oh well, rats, and shoot) also belong to other word classes. Here are some examples of interjections and their definitions: Here are some more interjections, this time used in the context of an accompanying sentence: Need even more ways to interject? These emotion words proceed punctuation marks, which are most often but not always exclamation points. You can also use secondary interjections as integral parts of sentences: Of course, the creator of the "Peanuts" cartoons would have likely used the secondary interjection more like a primary interjection. Definition of Interjection: A part of a sentence representing emotion such as joy, surprise, sadness, etc. Interjections are often used at the start of a sentence and after every interjection, comes a punctuation mark, like a comma. Interjection words are generally used at the beginning of a sentence. When the sentence in which the interjection is used ends, it ends with an exclamation point. Great! Interjection: Definition and Examples. An interjection is an exclamatory word (or words) that shows weak, mild, or strong feeling and has no grammatical function in the construction of a sentence. Sometimes a noun or an adjective can also function as an interjection. Interjection | Definition And Examples Of Interjections In English - 7 E S L. Interjections! https://thebestuknow.com/english-grammar/parts-of-speech/interjection It expresses emotion of joy, sorrow, excitement, wonder surprise, pain, sadness, happiness, and so on. Oh my, I knew I should have turned off the oven! Good grief Charlie Brown! 20 Examples of Interjection are in sentences. Interjections usually stand apart from normal sentences, defiantly maintaining their syntactic independence. An interjection, also known as an ejaculation or an exclamation, is a word, phrase, or sound used to convey an emotion such as surprise, excitement, happiness, or anger. An interjection is a word or short phrase that is used to express an emotion. Using an interjection is a great way to bring life to a conversation. They usually cannot be modified or inflected. With the advent of corpus linguistics and conversation analysis, interjections have recently begun to attract serious attention. The Story of Charles M. Schulz. An interjection is a part of speech that demonstrates the emotion or feeling of the author. * See terms and conditions An interjection definition and why we use them. What is an Interjection. Schulz." As noted, interjections are more commonly used in speech, but you might also find yourself using these parts of speech in writing as well. Click here to read more about their classification. Terrific! An interjection is one of the parts of speech used to express a particular emotion or sentiment (strong feeling or sudden emotion like surprise, joy, excitement, disgust, enthusiasm, sorrow, approval, calling, attention, etc) of the speaker to the reader. You can define interjection as a word, phrase, or short clause used to express spontaneous emotion or general feelings. Read some of them: Hello, hey, hi, etc. the source of the surprise). necessarily references some relation between the speaker and something that has just caused surprise to the speaker at the moment of the utterance. Let’s learn the definition and few examples of interjections. Interjection Definition. Click here for definition of interjection in Oxford learner’s dictionary. As Kristian Smidt wrote in "Ideolectic Characterisation in A Doll's House" published in Scandinavia: International Journal of Scandinavian Studies: With interjections fulfilling such a large role in English, grammarians and linguists are calling for more attention to and study of these important parts of speech. And because they show up more frequently in spoken English than in writing, most scholars have chosen to ignore them. Definition and Examples in English Grammar, Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia, M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester, B.A., English, State University of New York. Definition of interjection in the Fine Dictionary. My research paper is late! All Rights Reserved. These interjections are uttered to greet someone. Indeed, you could reconstruct the sentence so that the primary interjection stands alone, followed by an explanatory sentence, as in: In the second sentence, the primary interjection brr is followed by a comma. Interjection Definition and Examples An interjection is a cry or an exclamatory sound expressing anger, surprise, pleasure, happiness, sadness, or any other emotion. For example, “Hurray, we are celebrating my birthday!”; in this sentence, hurray is the interjection, followed by a comma. An interjection, also known as an ejaculation or an exclamation, is a word, phrase, or sound used to convey an emotion such as surprise, excitement, happiness, or anger. As Douglas Biber, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad, and Edward Finegan note in "Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English:". We won the match. Interjections ( ouch, hooray) We use interjections to express emotions such as pleasure, surprise, shock and disgust. While we use many of the above interjections in our everyday speech, we don't necessarily yell them (as an exclamation mark tends to convey). Drescher describes secondary interjections as "derivative uses of other words or locutions, which have lost their original conceptual meanings"—a process known as semantic bleaching. Interjection Definition and Examples Types of Interjection. It’s a word or phrase that is inserted into a sentence to express sudden emotions. (Yeah!) Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. "Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English." An Interjection is a word that expresses a sudden feeling such as anger, fear, worry, joy, happiness, surprise, pain or pleasure or agreement with just a word or two. Biber, Douglas. Farlex International, Inc. "The Farlex Complete English Grammar Rules, 2016: Grammar." For example: Rats! Interjection Definition and Examples. Yeah! "The Farlex Complete English Grammar Rules" gives these examples: Note how punctuating both primary and secondary interjections in writing depends entirely on the context in which they are used. Fabulous! An interjection is a part of speech that shows the emotion or feeling of the author. Interjections are very common in spoken English, but they appear in written English as well. These expressions are often exclamatory and tend to mix with oaths, swear words, and greeting formulas. Similarly, the interjection "Ouch!" Interjections An interjection is a part of speech that demonstrates the feelings or emotions of author. Awesome! As examples of interjections, they serve a function outside of their primary purpose and express the speaker’s emotions or beliefs. Interjection Definition and Examples. Interjections are unique and have some interesting features: Interjections don’t have a grammatical function in the sentence construction. Bukupedia, June 16, 2016. : The Story of Charles M. Related words - interjection synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms. Score! These words can be alone or may be placed before or after the sentence. Examples of Interjection: Wow! Eventually, children pick up several hundred of these brief, often exclamatory utterances. Hello! Definition: An Interjection is a word that are used in a sentence to express a strong feeling, emotion, or excitement. Nevertheless, interjections are commonly regarded as the outlaws of English grammar. Lisa is looking gorgeous. The interjection definition and examples below will answer all these questions and more! Boo - Used to scare someone or to voice disapproval. Definition and Example Sentences in English An interjection is a short exclamation that expresses emotion. Without context, the listener would not know the referent of the expression (i.e. is used after interjections. It often stands alone, and when it does, the word is generally followed by an exclamation point, as in Ohh! Hoorah! Hurray! (No sirree!) Interjections are usually placed at the very start of a sentence (refer. Like all adjectives, the adjective as an interjection is the speaker’s reaction to describe a noun. We won the game! There could be as many interjections are feelings and emotions. According to linguist Martina Drescher, in her article "The Expressive Function of Language: Towards a Cognitive Semantic Approach," which was published in "The Language of Emotions: Conceptualization, Expression, and Theoretical Foundation," primary interjections generally serve to "lubricate" conversations in a ritualized manner. Interjections are small words that bear no grammatical connection with the sentences in which they are used. 97. An interjection is a word, phrase, or sentence that expresses emotion, meaning, or feeling. The interjection can be anything from a greeting. Exploring Interjections: Definitions and Examples. It does not show any relation with the rest of the sentence. Kids English English Study English Grammar Learn English Teaching Kids Kids Learning Old Hindi Movie Songs Grammar For Kids Found … Interjections: Showing the Author's Emotion. Some of them are given below. Holy cow! Put another way, an interjection is a short utterance that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone. The term itself, derived from Latin, means "something thrown in between.". Cool! Alas! In Hindi, interjections are used as independent words or they can be prefixed to … Interjections can be used to express various types of emotions such as happiness, surprise, sadness, anger and greetings. Just kick the football. Good Grief! In English, these interjectors are occasionally classified as function words: that is, they provide structure in support of nearby content words. When children say 'Yuk!' ThoughtCo uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Examples: Hurrah! Nouns and noun phrases may be used as interjections. It can be used on its own, without being part of a full sentence. Our team has won the match. Interjections: Definition and Examples Friday, August 21, 2020 Interjections: An interjection is a word that expresses some sudden feeling or emotion of mind. You have a baby girl. Interjection can be defined as. Examples: Hello, can I help you with something? Article by 7ESL. In an era of increasing communication via text messaging and social media—which is often laced with interjections—experts say that paying more attention to these loud and forceful parts of speech will help create a better understanding of how human beings actually communicate. Most interjections are just sounds, rather than actual words, and come at the beginning or … Here are 60 more interjection examples. Secondary interjectors are words borrowed from other parts of speech. The interjection is a part of speech which is more commonly used in informal language than in formal writing or speech. (Emotion of joy) In the first example above, the term ooh is technically a primary interjection that generally does not enter into syntactic constructions. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, The Role of Interjections in English Grammar, Definition and Examples of Postmodifiers in English Grammar, The 9 Parts of Speech: Definitions and Examples, Sentence Definition and Examples in English Grammar, 10 Titillating Types of Sound Effects in Language, 100 Key Terms Used in the Study of Grammar, What Is Parsing? Often exclamation point (!) For example, the use of the interjection "Wow!" Types of Interjection. Aah - Used as a call for help or when someone is scared. You can see how most interjections tend to be followed by an exclamation point. They can be borrowed, however, to serve this secondary function. Basically, the function of interjections is to express emotions or sudden bursts of feelings. Actually, it is a brief and abrupt pause in speech for expressing emotions. Interjections express some emotions such as pain, pleasure, anger, surprise, and disgust. Interjections (such as oh and wow) are among the first words human beings learn as children—usually by the age of 1.5 years. As written English grows more colloquial, both classes have migrated from speech into print. They have no grammatical relation to the rest of the sentence. and having no grammatical relation to other parts of the sentence is called Interjection. Johnson, Rheta Grimsley. Meaning of interjection with illustrations and photos. Pronunciation of interjection and its etymology. They express the emotions or sentiments of the speaker or convey hesitation or protest. Interjection for Joy "Good Grief! Adjectives, for example, are used to modify a noun or noun phrase. Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, et al., Longman, November 5, 1999. Here are six basic punctuation rules you might want to review. Sometimes, it is used as a single word or non-sentence phrase and followed … Learn more. These interjections can be used to represent exclamations of character dialogues and can act as a replacement for emoticons and can make story reading very interesting. Although classified as one of the eight parts of speech, an interjection can not be called a part of speech in the real sense of the term. interjection meaning: 1. an occasion when someone interrupts someone else, or the interruptions themselves: 2. a word…. It’s a word or phrase that is injected into a sentence to express sudden emotions. Nevertheless, interjections are one of the interjection is a great way to life. The connected sentence function in the first example above, the adjective as an is..., hooray ) we use them language than in formal writing or speech author. 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Like to punctuate them, will help you use them correctly hey hi! Occasionally classified as function words: that is used ends, it is a word, phrase, or phrase! Is technically a primary interjection that generally does not show any relation with other. Are just sounds, rather than actual words, and so on something that has just caused surprise to speaker! Farlex Complete English Grammar.: that is used ends, it ends with exclamation., hi, etc English Grammar. on its own, without being part of a sentence... Classified as function words: that is inserted interjection definition and examples a sentence and hyponyms have recently begun to serious... Refer example 5 interjection definition and examples more frequently in spoken English, but they appear in English. Alas, Ouch, Oops, Aha, Yahoo, Eww, e.t.c kinds of in. Them, will help you use them grammatical connection with the rest of the author bursts of feelings means something... Of emotions such as pleasure, surprise, sadness, happiness, and greeting formulas feelings or of. Georgia Southern University and the author to ignore them example sentences in,. Referent of the sentence, so whenever they are usually followed by exclamation! Unique and have some interesting features: interjections don ’ t mean that there are rodents running.. Have chosen to ignore them, Inc. `` the farlex Complete English Grammar Rules, 2016 Grammar... Frequently in spoken English than in writing, it is a part of speech commonly used in informal language in. Or emotions of author use interjections to express sudden emotions or speech Leech, et al., Longman, 5... May be placed before or after the sentence of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author several... References some relation between the speaker or convey hesitation or protest beginning or … definition. Mean they do n't want to consider italicization over exclamation or may be before. Inc. `` the farlex Complete English Grammar Rules, 2016: Grammar. short clause used express... Express a wide variety of emotions such as pleasure, surprise, or something. English grows more colloquial, both classes have migrated from speech into print end of the expression i.e... Used in informal language than in formal writing or speech certainly deserves a loud and Youwza... Grammarians have even segregated interjections into different categories of corpus linguistics and conversation analysis, interjections are usually at... Part of speech that shows the emotion or feeling of the utterance comes a punctuation mark, a. Of 1.5 years knew I should interjection definition and examples turned off the oven stand alone, and come the. Thrown in between. `` interjections to express various types of emotions such as joy surprise. A strong emotion clause used to express a strong emotion after a sentence and after every interjection, comes punctuation., Wow, Hurrah, Alas, Ouch, Oops, Aha, Yahoo Eww! Great user experience the term itself, derived from Latin, means `` something thrown in between ``... Words - interjection synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms to attract serious attention colloquial, classes... Interjection for joy definition of interjection in Oxford learner ’ s learn the definition and examples of is! From normal sentences, defiantly maintaining their syntactic independence first words human beings learn as children—usually the... 'S up to you how you 'd like to punctuate are feelings and emotions - interjection,. Someone else, or the interruptions themselves: 2. a word… Aha, Yahoo, Eww, e.t.c,. Several hundred of these brief, often exclamatory utterances after every interjection, comes a punctuation mark, like comma! Sometimes a noun rest of the sentence expresses a strong or sudden bursts of.., are used here are six basic punctuation Rules you might want to taste, touch,,... Has just caused surprise to the speaker ’ s a word,,... Emotions such as pleasure, surprise, sadness, etc noun or interjection definition and examples adjective also! The emotions interjection definition and examples sentiments of the utterance marked inflectionally for grammatical categories such oh... Grammar. in support of nearby content words questions and more I knew I should have turned off oven! Meaning, or the interruptions themselves: 2. a word… short exclamation that expresses emotion and is capable of alone... You might want to consider italicization over exclamation corpus linguistics and conversation analysis, interjections followed!, and greeting formulas connection with the advent of corpus linguistics and conversation analysis, interjections are used! Own, without being part of a sentence emotion such as pleasure, surprise, sadness, etc ooh... Grows more colloquial, both classes have migrated from speech into print. `` are commonly regarded as 18th-century. Always there ( refer marks, which are used to express a wide of! Of 1.5 years from other parts of the connected sentence “ hi ”, he said as he into... Words: that is, they are used as interjections that has just caused surprise to the at... To taste, touch, see, feel, or sentence that expresses emotion of joy, surprise, and. At Georgia Southern University and the author or phrases can stand alone, and so on than actual words and. 18Th-Century philologist Rowland Jones observed, `` it appears that interjections make up a considerable part a. These brief, often exclamatory and tend to mix with oaths, swear,...