Interjection

An interjection is a word that expresses a strong emotion such as joy, sorrow, excitement, surprise, pain, or happiness.

Interjections are typically brief words or sounds that convey the speaker’s immediate emotional reaction.

Examples:

Wow, Hurrah, Hurray, Oh, Alas, Ouch, Oops, Aha, Yahoo, Eww, Bravo, etc.

A complete list of common interjections is provided at the end.

■ Examples in Sentences

Hurrah! We won the game. (Joy)
Hurrah! I passed the exam. (Joy)
Alas! I failed the exam. (Sorrow)
Alas! My brother died. (Sorrow)
Wow! What a beautiful car. (Surprise)
Wow! How intelligent you are. (Surprise)
Oh! I forgot to bring my purse. (Sorrow)
Ouch! It hurts. (Pain)
Eww! It tastes so bad. (Dislike)
Yahoo! I won a prize. (Joy)
Huh! I don’t care. (Scorn)

Interjections are often short sounds or words such as Hurrah, Wow, Oh, Ouch, and Huh. However, some adjectives, nouns, and phrasal verbs can also function as interjections.

■ Adjectives Used as Interjections

Great! You helped the poor.
Nice! You played very well.
Good! We can use it.
Sweet! It looks so cute.

■ Nouns Used as Interjections

Congratulations! You got the job.
Hello, is anyone there?
Man, where were you?

■ Phrasal Verbs Used as Interjections

Come on! Try once more.

■ Usage in Sentences

Interjections are often used in exclamatory sentences, which express strong emotions. In writing, an exclamation mark (!) is placed after the interjection.
Examples:

Hurrah! We won the game.
Wow! What a beautiful car.

■ Converting Exclamatory Sentences into Indirect Speech

When converting exclamatory sentences into indirect speech, the interjection is typically omitted and replaced by a descriptive phrase such as exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, or exclaimed with wonder.

Examples:

Direct speech: They said, “Hurrah! I passed the exam.”
Indirect speech: They exclaimed with joy that he had passed the exam.

Direct speech: He said, “Oh! I lost my wallet.”
Indirect speech: He exclaimed with sorrow that he had lost his wallet.

Direct speech: She said, “Wow! What a beautiful flower it is.”
Indirect speech: She exclaimed with wonder at the beauty of the flower.

■ Common Interjections

1. Joy / Happiness

Hurrah / Hurray
Yahoo
Bravo
Yay
Hooray
Woohoo

2. Surprise / Astonishment

Wow
Whoa
Oh
Ah
Aha

3. Sorrow / Regret

Alas
Oh (in sorrowful context)
Aw
Oops (sometimes regretful)
Damn

4. Pain / Discomfort

Ouch
Ow
Yikes
Eww / Ew

5. Disgust / Distaste

Eww / Ew
Yuck

6. Fear / Alarm

Oh no
Ah
Yikes
Whoa

7. Anger / Frustration

8. Attention / Greeting

Hello
Hi
Hey
Yo
Greetings
Attention

9. Scorn / Contempt

Huh
Bah
Pfft
Tsk