Interjections and exclamations are different from each other. They are special words and part of speech. In this lesson, we will learn all about them.

Interjections in the English Language

What Are Interjections?

Interjections are words or phrases used to express strong emotions or sentiments in a sentence. They are typically used to convey feelings such as joy, surprise, frustration, or excitement. Interjections can add emphasis or tone to a sentence and help to convey the speaker's emotions more clearly.

Interjections: Types

Interjections are a broad category and include many different types, here we have listed some of the common ones:

  1. greetings (hey, bye)
  2. response particles (okay, oh!, m-hm, huh?)
  3. hesitation markers (uh, er, um)
  4. multi-words (oh my God! Holy crap!)
  5. swear words (damn! f*!)
  6. other words (stop, cool)

Greetings

You can use interjections to greet someone or express congratulations. Here are the examples:

Hi!

Congrats!

Hey!

Bye!

Using interjection to express disgust

Response Particles

Some expressions, such as 'yes', 'no', 'indeed', 'nope', etc. are used as interjections:

Can you stop that? -Okay!

Did you write your essay? -Mhm!

Yes, I do like to go to the cinema!

Hesitation Markers

You can use these interjections to indicate hesitation or pause:

I don't know what to say, err, this is very hard.

Mm! Let me think.

Multi-words

There are interjections that are more than one word or sound:

Holy moly! What a big house you've got there!

Damn it! I wish I knew the answer.

Oh my God! What are you doing in Rome?

Swear Words

Some swear words can be used as interjections:

Damn! This dog is so cute.

Sh*t! I spilled my coffee.

How to Use Interjections

Interjections usually stand alone, and mostly at the beginning of sentences. But there is not any specific rule regarding where an interjection must be used, you can use them before or after the sentence that is explaining the situation. You can use them in the middle of a sentence, or you can use them alone (if it makes sense in the context).

Eww! You are disgusting.

At the beginning of the sentence

We lost it, Damn it!

At the end of the sentence

I may have not finished it, but, hey, I tried.

In the middle of a sentence

It'll take 2 hours (wow!) to check out the park entirely.

In the middle of a sentence

Punctuation and Interjections

Interjections should be accompanied by punctuation marks; we cannot just drop them in the sentence. Usually, we can use an exclamation mark with them:

Yikes! There is a mouse in my room.

If they are used in the middle of a sentence, we use parenthesis or commas to separate them from the rest of the sentence:

I forgot to do the dishes (Oops!), but my mom forgave me eventually.

Damn, I thought we've already arrived.

Tip!

When we use an interjection in the middle of a sentence, we should treat it as a parenthetical element that is separate from the rest of the sentence. So, we should either put it in parentheses or between two commas.

We usually use an exclamation mark (!) for strong interjections and a period (.) or comma (,) for mild interjections.

Where to Use Interjections

Since the interjections have no connection with the structure of the sentence, it is hard to misuse them. We should focus on whether their use is appropriate in a specific context or not. For example, using interjections in formal writing is inappropriate. But it's okay to use them when speaking or writing something informal. In the following, you can see some of the emotions and the interjections associated with them:

Irritation ugh! Pff! Hmph!
Doubt Umm! Huh? Really?
Fear Yikes! Yeek! Uh-oh!
Boredom Sigh! Pff! Uh!
Satisfaction Yummy! Mmm! Yeah!
Dissatisfaction Aah! Blast! Bollock!
Disagree Tsk tsk! Tut! Nah!
Understanding Aha! Hum! Aw!
Embarrassment Whoops! Gee! Ahem!
Disgust Yuck! Ew! Gak!
Relief Phew! Whoa! Whew!
Pain Ouch! Ow! Aya!
Surprise Oh! Wow! Really?
Happiness Yay! Hurray! Woo-hoo!

Some interjections can describe different feelings with different tones, so these are not fixed rules and the situation needs to be considered.

What are Exclamation?

Exclamations are clauses or phrases also used to show strong feelings or sudden emotions, we usually put an exclamation mark at the end of these sentences. Examples:

What a beautiful day!

How nice to see you!

I won the race!

Interjections vs. Exclamations

Even though they might look the same, they have their differences. Let's have a look:

Interjections Exclamations
Interjections are words or phrases (part of speech) that are used to express strong feeling or sudden emotions, they have no grammatical value or connection to the sentence. Exclamations are clauses or phrases also used to show strong feeling or sudden emotions.
They are usually single words or short phrases. Mostly are longer than interjections.
Their punctuation can be exclamation marks, commas or question marks. Their punctuation is always exclamation marks.
They can be sounds, introductory expressions, adjectives, and nouns. They are meaningful phrases and clauses.

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