jueves, 22 de agosto de 2013

Interjections

INTERJECTIONS

An interjection is a word that expresses some kind of emotion. It can be used as filler. 

Interjections do not have a grammatical function in the sentence and are not related to the other parts of the sentence. 

If an interjection is omitted, the sentence still makes sense. It can stand alone.

  • Ouch! That hurts.
  • Well, I need a break.
  • Wow! What a beautiful dress!

When you are expressing a strong emotion, use an exclamation mark (!).        

A comma (,) can be used for a weaker emotion. 


- Interjections do the following: 
1. Express a feeling—wow, gee, oops, darn, geez, oh:

  • Oops, I’m sorry. That was my mistake.
  • Geez! Do I need to do it again?
  • Oh, I didn’t know that.
2. Say yes or no—yes, no, nope:

  • Yes! I will do it!
  • No, I am not going to go there.
  • Nope. That’s not what I want.
3. Call attention—yo, hey:

  • Yo, will you throw the ball back?
  • Hey, I just wanted to talk to you about the previous incident.
4. Indicate a pause—well, um, hmm:

  • Well, what I meant was nothing like that.
  • Um, here is our proposal.
  • Hmm. You really need to be on a diet.

- The table below shows some interjections with examples.

interjectionmeaningexample
ahexpressing pleasure"Ah, that feels good."
expressing realization"Ah, now I understand."
expressing resignation"Ah well, it can't be heped."
expressing surprise"Ah! I've won!"
alasexpressing grief or pity"Alas, she's dead now."
dearexpressing pity"Oh dear! Does it hurt?"
expressing surprise"Dear me! That's a surprise!"
ehasking for repetition"It's hot today." "Eh?" "I said it's hot today."
expressing enquiry"What do you think of that, eh?"
expressing surprise"Eh! Really?"
inviting agreement"Let's go, eh?"
erexpressing hesitation"Lima is the capital of...er...Peru."
hello, hulloexpressing greeting"Hello John. How are you today?"
expressing surprise"Hello! My car's gone!"
heycalling attention"Hey! look at that!"
expressing surprise, joy etc"Hey! What a good idea!"
hiexpressing greeting"Hi! What's new?"
hmmexpressing hesitation, doubt or disagreement"Hmm. I'm not so sure."
oh, oexpressing surprise"Oh! You're here!"
expressing pain"Oh! I've got a toothache."
expressing pleading"Oh, please say 'yes'!"
ouchexpressing pain"Ouch! That hurts!"
uhexpressing hesitation"Uh...I don't know the answer to that."
uh-huhexpressing agreement"Shall we go?" "Uh-huh."
um, ummexpressing hesitation"85 divided by 5 is...um...17."
wellexpressing surprise"Well I never!"
introducing a remark"Well, what did he say?"

Note: 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.


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Source:
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/
http://www.talkenglish.com/Grammar/Grammar.aspx

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