What is an Interjection?
An interjection is a word or utterance that expresses emotion. It is generally used to add emphasis or effect and are not essentially related to other words in the sentence; an interjection can be omitted without changing the message of the sentence. “Oh! You finally arrived!” means the same as “You finally arrived!” with the latter having less feeling of surprise.
Interjections can stand alone or can be placed before, after, or in the middle of a sentence. They’re usually marked with an exclamation point.
- Wow! She won seven awards last night!
- I didn’t know this before, but wow! She dances like a pop star!
- I heard they won the top prize. Wow!
Related Reading: Pronouns – Substitution Over Repetition
Commas, Period, or Exclamation Points After Interjections:
Most times, interjections are followed by an exclamation point to signal a strong emotion, like Yay! Hey! Oops! Ew! Oh, no! but there are instances when writers want to tone it down a bit or completely remove undue emotion; so, a comma or a period is used after the interjection. Notice the emotions and punctuations in the following interjections.
- We’re going to Disneyland! Hooray!
- Geez! Chill out, girl.
- He’s late again. Great.
- Congrats! You’ve finally moved on.
- Indeed, I was a bit confused with your report.
- Yes, I do want to leave early.
- No, you cannot borrow my shoes.
- No! I don’t want to see you ever again!
- Ahh, this blanket is cozy.
- Well, just think of it as an investment.
- Maybe you could, hmm, try again next year.
- It’s a tad expensive, but yeah, it looks great.
Commonly Used English Interjections
| Ahem | Goodbye | Humph | Ow | Uhuh | Yowza |
| Ahh | Great | Hush | Phew | Voila | Yuck |
| Aloha | Ha-Ha | Lo and behold | Pshaw | Wham | Yummy |
| Bam | Hello | Man | Shh | Whoops | |
| Bah | Hmm | Oh | Shoo | Whoosh | |
| Brrr | Holy Cow | Oh Well | Touché | Yeah | |
| Bye | Holy Molly | Oh, Dear | Ugh | Yes | |
| Err | Holy Smokes | Oh, No | Uh-Huh | Yikes | |
| Geez | Hooray | Oooh | Uh-Oh | Yippee |
Thank you for reading. We hope it’s effective! Always feel free to revisit this page if you ever have any questions about interjections.