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Interjection

An interjection is a part of speech in the English language.

The interjection is a word that expresses a strong emotion.

It expresses an emotion of joy, sorrow, excitement, wonder surprise, pain, sadness, happiness, and so on.

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

Examples:

  • Hurrah! We won the game!     (Emotion of joy)
  • Hurrah! I passed the exam!     (Emotion of joy)
  • Alas! I failed the exam!            (Emotion of sorrow)
  • Alas! My brother died.             (Emotion of sorrow)
  • Wow! What a beautiful car!      (Emotion of surprise)
  • Wow! How intelligent you are. (Emotion of surprise)
  • Oh! I forgot to bring my purse! (Emotion of sorrow)
  • Ouch! It hurts!                          (Emotion of pain)
  • Eww! It tastes so bad!              (Emotion of disliking)
  • Yahoo! I won a prize!               (Emotion of joy)
  • Huh! I don’t care!                     (Emotion of scorn)

Interjections are short sounds or specific words such as Hurrah, Wow, Oh, Ouch, Huh. However, some nouns, adjectives and phasal verbs are also sometimes used as interjections.

  Adjectives used as Interjections

Examples.

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

  Nouns used as Interjections

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

  Phrasal verb used as Interjections

Examples.

  • Come on! Try once more!

  Usage of Injerjection in Sentences

The interject are also referred to as exclamations. A sentence which consists of an interjection and express a strong emotion of joy, sorrow or surprise, is called an exclamatory sentence.

An exclamation mark (!) is used at two places in an exclamatory sentence: 1) after the interjection itself and 2) after the remaining spoken words expressing an emotion.

Examples.

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

  Making Indirect Speech for Exclamatory Sentences

The way exclamatory sentences are converted into indirect speech is a bit different than that for normal sentences. The injection part (e.g., Hurrah, Alas) of the sentence is usually not used in indirect speech and is replaced by phrases such exclaimed with joy, exclaimed with sorrow, and exclaimed with wonder. See the following 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 that what a beautiful flower it was.


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