Interjections

Interjection= Inter (into) + jection (throwing)

Definition and Function

An Interjection is a word or sound thrown into a sentence to express some feeling of the mind (J.
C. Nesfield as quoted by P.C. Das).

An Interjection is a word which expresses some sudden feeling.

(Wren & Martin as quoted by P.C. Das)

An Interjection is a word that expresses feeling or emotion and functions independently of a

sentence (Forlini, 2004).

An interjection is a word added to a sentence to express an emotion or a feeling and functions

independently of a sentence (Luzada and Villar-Ong, 2012)

An interjection is a word or a phrase standing alone or inserted into a sentence to exclaim or to

command attention (Ebest, et al. 2000).

Interjection and Other Parts of Speech

Unlike other parts of speech, interjections never have grammatical connection to other words in a
sentence (Forlini, et al. 2004).

An Interjection, grammatically speaking, is not a part of speech as it has no connection with any
other word of the sentence. But in a broader sense, an Interjection is part of our speech. Hence, it is
included as a part of speech in grammar (PC Das, 2010).

Grammatically, [interjections] have no connection to the sentence (Ebest, 2000).

Two Kinds of Interjections

A. According to Form

Grammarians distinguish two kinds of interjections according to form:

1. Those which are used only as interjections which never occur otherwise in speech. Some of
these contain sounds not used otherwise in English and consequently difficult to represent in
writing.

Ex.: Oh! Ouch! tsk-tsk, psst, whew, Alas!

N. B. tsk-tsk for example is an inadequate representation of the clucking sound made to indicate
disapproval.
 2. Those which occur sometimes as interjections and sometimes as other parts of speech.

Ex.: Ah me! For shame! Good gracious! Goodness! Good heavens! My! Oh my! Well. Well done!

N.B. The two groups are hard to separate, since many words now used only as interjections
originate from other parts of speech: Alas, for example, has its root in a word meaning
“wretched” (A Complete Course in Freshman English; Harry Shaw).

B. According to Exclamatory Strength

1. Strong Interjection
This kind of interjection is set off from the rest of the sentence by an exclamation point.

Ouch! That really hurts!

2. Mild or Weak Interjection

This kind of interjection is set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma.

Well, if you don’t like the story, leave.

N.B. An interjection inserted into a sentence may need a comma before and after it or no
commas at all.

Some Interjections and Their Functions