An interjection is a short word or phrase, such as wow, oops, or ouch, that shows a sudden feeling. It stands outside the grammar of the sentence, and it is usually followed by an exclamation point or a comma. A list of common interjections from A to Z is at the end of this article.
What is an interjection?
Interjections are everywhere in English: in speech, and especially in informal writing such as messages and social media posts. An interjection is an abrupt remark, spoken or written, that shows the speaker's feelings or emotions. It can also be seen as an interruption or an exclamation. Some interjections give a command or express a protest: shh asks for silence, and boo shows disapproval.
Interjections are one of the word classes of English, next to nouns, verbs, pronouns, and others. English word classes gives an overview, and what you need to know about pronouns covers another class in detail.
How to punctuate an interjection
An interjection that shows a strong feeling usually stands alone and ends with an exclamation point:
- Wow! That was fast.
- Ouch! That hurt.
A milder interjection is part of the sentence and is followed by a comma:
- Well, I am not sure.
- Oh, I didn't know that.
Outside of interjections, use exclamation points sparingly. How to use the exclamation point explains when they fit.
Interjections and meaning
Used alone, an interjection often tells you little. The reader or listener understands the tone, but not what the speaker is talking about. Take this example:
Attaboy! That's the way.
The interjection attaboy on its own does not tell you what happened. It does give a clue, though: someone did something right, and the speaker approves of it.
Emoticons and emoji
Writers have always used interjections to show emotion, and in a written text it can take some effort to get a feeling across. In text messages and on social media, emoticons and emoji often do that job instead. If you want to show that you are excited, upset, or angry, you can add a smiley such as :-) instead of an interjection, and a single symbol can carry the same message.
Emoji do not fit every text, though. In a business email, an essay, or a story, words are the only option, and in speech you say the interjection out loud.
Interjections in sentences
Here are some interjections in example sentences:
- Ah, that was awesome!
- Bam! I finally nailed it.
- Good grief, please be quiet!
- Holy cow, did you see that?
- Uh-oh, there goes the neighborhood.
- Whoa! You'd better slow down.
- Yikes, that spider is huge!
Spelling interjections
Many interjections imitate sounds, so their spelling is not always fixed. You will see hmm with two m's or with three, and phew also written as whew. Some have one standard spelling, though: dictionaries list whoa, although woah is common online. In formal writing, use the dictionary spelling. For words that are hard to spell in general, try these great and useful spelling strategies.
Common interjections from A to Z
- A: ah, aha, ahem, ahoy, alas, argh, aw
- B: bah, bah humbug, bam, bingo, bleh, boo, bravo, brr
- C: cheers, congrats, cripes, crud
- D: damn, dang, darn, darn it, drat, duh
- E: eek, eh, encore, er, eureka, eww
- F: fiddlesticks, fie
- G: gadzooks, gee, gee whiz, geez, gesundheit, golly, good grief, goodness, goodness gracious, gosh
- H: ha, ha-ha, hallelujah, hello, hey, hmm, holy cow, holy smokes, hooray, hot dog, huh, humph, hurray
- K: ka-ching
- O: oh, oh dear, oh my, oh well, ooh-la-la, oops, ouch, ow, oy
- P: phew, phooey, please, pooh, pow, presto, pshaw
- R: rats
- S: shh, shoo
- T: thanks, tut-tut
- U: ugh, uh-huh, uh-oh, um
- V: viva, voilà
- W: wham, whammo, whew, whoa, whoops, wow
- Y: yahoo, yay, yeah, yes, yikes, yippee, yo, yuck, yum
- Z: zap