1.8: Interjections

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An interjection is a word or group of words that is used to express surprise, fear, pain or other emotions. It is not grammatically related to other words in a sentence, so it functions independently. It may be followed by an exclamation point, or a comma when part of a complete sentence.

List of Interjections

Table \(\PageIndex{1}\)
Ah	Goodness	Hurray	Tsk
Aha	Gracious	Oh	Well
Alas	Great	Omigosh/omg	Whew
Dear	Hello/hi	Ouch	Wow
Gee	Hey	Psst	Yippee

Here are some examples:

Ouch! You hurt my knee.
Hello, how have you been?

1.i Articles

There are three articles in the English language: the, a, and an. These are divided into two types of articles: definite (the) and indefinite (a, an). The definite article indicates a level of specificity that the indefinite does not. “An apple” could refer to any apple; however “the apple” is referring back to a specific apple.

Thus, when using the definite article, the speaker assumes the listener knows the identity of the noun’s referent (because it is obvious, because it is common knowledge, or because it was mentioned in the same sentence or an earlier sentence). Use of an indefinite article implies that the speaker assumes the listener does not have to be told the identity of the referent.

There are also cases where no article is required:

with generic nouns (plural or uncountable): cars have accelerators, happiness is contagious, referring to cars in general and happiness in general (compare the happiness I felt yesterday, specifying particular happiness);
with many proper names: Sabrina, France, London, etc.

Contributors and Attributions

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