Interjections & Exclamations , Grammar American & British [ 24 ]

24- ] Grammar American & British

Interjections And Exclamations .

Interjections are words expressing strong emotions and feelings which are grammatically unrelated to a sentence. Exclamations are words, phrases, and clauses that express feelings and strong feelings.

An exclamation is a word or a number of words which expresses an emotion. An interjection can be defined as a word that is being used with an exclamation mark. The main difference between an exclamation and an interjection is that all interjections are exclamations, but not all exclamations are interjections.

How to use exclamations/interjections

An exclamation (also called an interjection) is a word or phrase that expresses strong emotion, such as surprise, pleasure, or anger. Exclamations often stand on their own, and in writing they are usually followed by an exclamation mark rather than a full stop:

How wonderful!

Ow! That hurt!

Exclamations are also used to express greetings or congratulations:

Hello!

Well done, lads!

Interjections

The interjection is a word or sound used to express some sudden feeling or emotion . It thus belongs to the oldest form of the spoken language and represents the most primitive type of utterance . It does not enter into the grammatical construction of the sentence .

Interjections have traditionally been treated as one of the eight parts of speech (or word classes). But it's worth keeping in mind that many interjections can do double or triple duty as other parts of speech. For instance, when a word such as boy or awesome appears by itself (often followed by an exclamation point in writing), it functions as an interjection:

Interjections in a Sentence

Ahh, that feels wonderful.

Alas! I'm lost in the wilderness.

Bah! That was a total waste of time.

Bless you! I couldn't have done it without you.

It's time for me to go. Cheerio!

Congrats! You finally got your master's degree.

Crikey! Do you ever think before you speak?

Gesundheit!

Boy! You have an answer for everything.

The crew chief handed me my first paycheck. "Awesome!" I said.

But when that same word shows up syntactically integrated into a sentence, it usually operates as a different part of speech. In the following examples, boy is a noun, and awesome is an adjective:

The boy ate a Snickers bar.

Seeing the northern lights for the first time was an awesome experience.

Words that are used only as interjections are called primary interjections, while words that also belong to other word classes are called secondary interjections.

Oh! Here's something else to look out for. The meanings of interjections sometimes change depending on the context in which they're used. The word oh, for example, may indicate surprise, disappointment, or delight:

Oh! I didn't see you sitting there.

Oh...I was hoping you could stay for a while.

Oh! I'm so glad you came!

As you read through this list, see if you can pick out the interjections that have more than one meaning or can be used in more than one way. Additional spellings or usages are listed in parentheses.

Ah: Ah, I don't know if that's true.

Aha: Aha! I figured it out!

Ahem: Ahem, could you boys stop talking so we could get on with class, please?

Alas: Alas, it was not to be.

Amen: Amen, hallelujah, amen!

Aw: Aw, do we have to?

Awesome: You two are dating? Awesome!

Aww: Aww, that's so cute!

Bah: Bah, humbug!

Baloney: Oh, baloney. I don't believe that.

Big deal: Big deal. Who cares?

Bingo: Bingo! Right on target!

Boo: Boo! Scared you!

Boo-hoo: That makes me sad. Boo-hoo.

Booyah (boo-yah): Yeah, I aced this test. Booyah!

Boy (boy oh boy): Oh boy. Oh boy, oh boy. That's heavy, man.

Bravo: Bravo! That was fantastic!

Brilliant: Brilliant, luv, absolutely brilliant! (British English.)

Brrr: Brr! Minus 30 degrees? Yuk.

Bull: Bull. It's not 30 below zero, not really.

Bye (bye-bye): Bye! See you later!

Cheers: Cheers, mate! You're welcome. (British English); Cheers! Raise a toast! (American English.)

Come on (c'mon): Come on. Hurry up.

Cool: Oh, wow, that is so cool!

Dang: Dang it! Where'd I put that?

Darn (darn it): Darn it! I can't find the other one either!

Dear me: Oh, dear me. What are we going to do?

Duck: Duck! No, really! Get down!

Duh: Well, duh. I can't believe you didn't know that.

Eh: Eh? What?

Enjoy: Enjoy! I hope you like it!

Excellent: "Party time, excellent!" ("Wayne's World")

Fabulous: Fabulous! That's just wonderful!

Fantastic: Fantastic! I just love it!

Finally: Finally! I never thought that'd be done.

For heaven's sake(s): "Oh, for heaven's sake, don't you know your Bible?" ("Little House on the Prairie")

Fore: Fore! (Look out! in golf)

Foul: Foul! In baseball, the ball went out of bounds, otherwise an infraction.

Freeze: Freeze! Stop right there!

Gee (gee whiz, gee willikers): Well gee whiz, Pa, why do I have to do that?

Giddyap (giddyup): Giddyup, Silver! Go, horse, go!

Golly (good golly, golly gee willikers): Golly, that sure was tasty.

Goodbye (good-bye): Goodbye, see you again soon!

Good grief: "Good grief, Charlie Brown." ("Peanuts")

Good heavens: Good heavens! How did that happen?

Gosh: “Whatever I feel like I wanna do, gosh!” ("Napoleon Dynamite")

Great: Great! I'm so excited you'll come along!

Great balls of fire: "Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!" ("Great Balls of Fire," Jerry Lee Lewis)

Ha: Ha-ha! That's funny!

Hallelujah: Glory be to God, hallelujah!

Heavens (heavens above, heavens to Betsy): Oh, heavens! How could you think that?

Heigh-ho: Heigh-ho neighbor! How are you?

Hello: Hello! How are things with you?

Help: Help! I need somebody ("Help!" The Beatles)

Hey (hey there): Hey! Look over there!

Hi (hiya): Hi! What's up?

Hip, hip, hooray: We won! On the count of three, everyone: Hip, hip hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!

Hmm (hrm): Hmm. Let me think about that for a bit.

Ho-ho-ho: Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christmas!

Holy mackerel (holy cow, holy moly, holy Moses, holy smokes): Holy mackerel! I can't believe it!

Ho-hum: Ho-hum, how boring.

Hooray (hurrah, hurray): Hooray! That's awesome!

Howdy (howdy do): Howdy, pardner.

Huh: Huh. I have no idea.

Ick: Ick! How gross!

Indeed: Indeed! I'll bet you didn't know that!

Jeez: Jeez, do we really have to go through this now?

Kaboom: Kaboom! It blew up!

Kapow: And Batman hit the evildoer, kapow!

Lordy (lordy, lordy): Oh lordy, lordy, look who's 40!

Mama mia: Mama mia, let me go. ("Bohemian Rhapsody," Queen)

Man: Man, that's unbelievable.

Marvelous: Marvelous! Oh, honey, that's just wonderful.

My: "My! I never once thought of it, Huck!" ("The Adventures of Tom Sawyer")

My goodness (my heavens, my stars, my word): My goodness, isn't that just grand?

Nah: Nah, it'll never work.

No problem: Thank you. No problem.

No way (no way José): No way! I can't believe it.

Nope: Nope. I can't do that.

Nuts: Nuts! I wish I didn't have to.

Oh (oh boy, oh dear, oh my, oh my gosh, oh my goodness, oh no, oh well): Oh! That's shocking!

OK (okay): OK, sounds great. Thank you.

Ouch: Ouch! That hurt!

Ow: Ow! That stung!

Please: Would you help me, please?

Poof: Poof! She just disappeared.

Shh: Shh! Quiet in the library!

Super: Super! That's fantastic!

Swell: Swell! How great!

Welcome: Welcome! Come in!; (You're) Welcome!

Well: Well, I just don't know about that.

Whoop-de-doo: Well whoop-de-doo. (sarcasm) I so don't care.

Woo-hoo: Woo-hoo! That's fantastic!

Wow: Wow! I love it!

Yabba dabba doo: "Yabba dabba doo!" ("The Flinstones")

Yadda, yadda, yadda: "Well, we were engaged to be married, uh, we bought the wedding invitations, and, uh, yada, yada, yada, I'm still single." ("Seinfeld")

Yippee: Yippie! That's exciting!

Yummy: Yummy! I love chocolate cake!

Exclamations .

There are two types of exclamatory sentences whose sentence structure should be noted .

1- ] Those beginning ‘How’ ! or ‘What’ !

Examples

How well Shaw !

How nice of you to come and see us!

How cold this room is !

What lovely weather we are having !

What a fool he is !

What an awful noise !

What rubbish he writes !

What a shame that you can’t come !

How old he is !

2- ] Those beginning with an adverb like ‘There , Here , In , etc.

Examples

There he is !

Here it comes !

Off they went !

Away you go !

In you get !

Sentences like the last two ( in the second person ) express a kind of good humored imperative , less severe and commanding than Go away , Get in .

- Note: If the subject is a personal pronoun ( as in the examples above ) it comes before the verb .

Examples

There goes the train!

Here comes Hazem !

There was a sudden gust of wind and away went his hat !

The door burst open and in rushed the crowd !  

Is your writing a little dull? Add some sass and punch to your writing with exclamatory sentences.  What am I talking about?  Well, I am not talking about sentences that make a casual statement, ask a question, or give a command.  Instead, they convey some type of strong emotion.  And how exactly do you express a strong emotion?  It’s easy.  Write a declarative sentence filled with emotion and use this punctuation mark (!)!

It’s called an exclamation mark and is used to show a vast range of emotions…love, anger, happiness, confusion, elation or any other typed of exuberant emotion. It is a crucial element of exclamatory sentences!

Exclamation marks are reserved for powerful feelings so you won’t find them used to express a matter-of –fact emotion or serenity, or a sense of calm.  Instead they deliver a jolt of feeling, which is why they’re so common in everyday speech and part of exclamatory sentences.  However, exclamation marks need to be used sparingly in your writing. Use them to emphasize a point but be careful not to overdo. For instance, can you imagine reading line after line of sentences like this!!

And when it comes to academic writing, such as essays and reports, don’t use exclamatory sentences at all, unless you are using them in quotations.

Grammatically speaking, formal English requires exclamations to begin with either the word what or how.  But in everyday informal English you’ll find exclamations can begin with any word, as you’ll see in the examples of exclamatory sentences to follow.  But first, two more grammar rules you need to know about.

Rule Number One: If the noun in your sentence is plural, the correct choice is what, not how.

Exclamatory Sentences: “What exceptional children these are!” is correct.

Exclamatory Sentences: “How exceptional children these are!” is incorrect.

Exclamatory Sentences: What is acceptable with singular nouns as well.

Exclamatory Sentences: “What an exceptional child this is!”

The emotion portrayed in the above examples is one of astonishment.  You’ll quickly see that any emotion can be expressed with exclamations.

Rule Number Two: When punctuating an exclamatory sentence, the exclamation mark should be at the sentence end, not in the middle of the sentence.

Exclamatory Sentences: “Fantastic, we closed the deal!”  is correct.

Exclamatory Sentences: “Fantastic! we closed the deal.” is incorrect.

Examples of exclamatory sentences

The following sentences are all examples of exclamations. See if you can determine the emotion expressed in each:

Exclamatory Sentences: No, you did not have permission to stay out this late!

Exclamatory Sentences: I can’t figure this out!

Exclamatory Sentences: Our team won the championship!

Exclamatory Sentences: I don’t know what happened here!

Exclamatory Sentences: I simply adore you!

Exclamatory Sentences: I just won the lottery!

Exclamatory Sentences: My life will never be the same without you!

Exclamatory Sentences: Oh, I didn’t see you come in!

Did you find the emotion easy to determine?  Here are the emotions the writer had in mind…

Exclamatory Sentences: No, you did not have permission to stay out this late! (anger)

Exclamatory Sentences: I can’t figure this out! (frustration)

Exclamatory Sentences: Our team won the championship! (happiness)

Exclamatory Sentences: I don’t know what happened here! (confusion)

Exclamatory Sentences: I simply adore you! (love)

Exclamatory Sentences: I just won the lottery! (elation)

Exclamatory Sentences: My life will never be the same without you! (sorrow)

Exclamatory Sentences: Oh, I didn’t see you come in! (surprise)

After reading the sentences a second time, couldn’t you just feel the emotion?

There will be times when you see an exclamation mark used in an imperative sentence, like this:

Come here now!

Be sure you don’t use an exclamation mark if you’re using “please” in your sentence.  Instead, use a simple period.

Please come here now.

An interrogative sentence can become an exclamation, too.  Like this…

What did you do to the dog’s hair!

Exclamatory Words

Exclamatory words are words that generate a strong emotional response.  Here is a list of common ones but you can certainly add your own ideas so you’ll have a quick and ready list of exclamatory words to use in your writing.

Wow!

Brilliant!

Awesome!

Ouch!

Amazing!

Bravo!

Fantastic!

Tremendous!

Sheesh!

Geronimo!

Timber!

Eureka

Hooray!

Wowsers!

Gosh!

Jeepers!

Magnificent!

Unbelievable!

Exclamatory words that can stand alone as a sentence while expressing emotions or reactions are called interjections. Interjections don’t require a subject or verb to express a thought.  However, they can be inserted in a sentence by using commas.

Exclamatory Sentences: Wow, that was a thrilling ride!

Exclamatory Sentences: Brilliant, you solved the puzzle!

Exclamatory Sentences: Awesome, you got the job!

Exclamatory Sentences: Ouch, that really hurts!

Exclamatory Sentences: I don’t know what you feel but, sheesh, I think the food was too expensive!

By sprinkling your writing with appropriate exclamatory sentences, you’ll find you’ve added excitement to your story or prose.  But keep in mind a little goes a long way.  If you emphasize everything, you end up emphasizing nothing.  Exclamations aren’t appropriate for underlining points that could easily be made with a declarative statement.  If you do that, your readers will become suspicious of your sincerity – and that’s the last thing a good writer wants.

Instead, use exclamatory sentences to show sincere, honest emotion to pull your reader into your words .Tremendous!