Interjection

Interjection is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!, Um or Ah!

They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually more in speaking than in writing.

When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they have no grammatical connection to the sentence.

An interjection is sometimes followed by an exclamation mark (!) when written.

Interjections like er and um are also known as "hesitation devices". They are extremely common in English.

People use them when they don't know what to say, or to indicate that they are thinking about what to say.

You should learn to recognize them when you hear them and realize that they have no real meaning.

The table below shows some interjections with examples.

interjection                meaning                     example

ah                      expressing pleasure                      "Ah, that feels good."

dear                        expressing pity                      "Oh dear! Does it hurt?"

uh-huh                     expressing agreement                "Shall we go?" "Uh-huh."

well                        expressing surprise                          "Well I never!"

hey                                 calling attention                             "Hey! look at that!"

oh, o                                  expressing pain                        "Oh! I've got a toothache."