Interjections are words or phrases which are used to express emotion or to catch the reader’s attention. Interjections are rarely used in formal or business writing. They usually use interjections in advertising, fiction, informal writing and personal letter.
1) Common Interjection Words
| Ah, alas, congratulation, good grief, great, help, hey, hooray, hurry, my goodness, never, no, no way, oh, ough, outstanding, ugh, wow… |
Example:
- Congratulation! You pass your exam.
- Ouch! I cut my finger.
- Help! I’m going to fall down.
2) Exclamation Structure
Exclamations are often constructed with “how, what, so and such”.
a) Exclamation with “how”
Formula1:
| How + Adjective + ! |
Example:
- Apple! How nice!
- John! How handsome!
Formula2:
| How + Adjective/Adverb + Subject + Verb + ! |
Example:
- How hot it is!
- How beautifully she sings!
b) Exclamation with “what”
Formula1:
| What + a/an + Adjective + Singular Countable Noun + ! |
Example:
- What a lovely girl!
- What an honest friend!
Formula2:
| What + Adjective + Plural Noun/Uncountable Noun + ! |
Example:
- What clever students!
- What nice soup!
Formula3:
| What + Object + Subject + Verb + ! |
Example:
- What a beautiful smile she has!
- What a friendly student he is!
c) Exclamation with “so”
Formula:
| So + Adjective/Adverb + ! |
Example:
- He walks so fast!
- They are so generous!
d) Exclamation with “such”
Formula1:
| Such + a/an + (Adjective) + Singular Countable Noun + ! |
Example:
- She is such a mean girl!
- He is such a talkative person!
Formula2:
| Such + (Adjective) + Plural Noun/Uncountable Noun + ! |
Example:
- They have such lovely children!
- He drinks such strong coffee!
3) PUNCTUATION
Strong interjections are punctuated with an exclamation point. (Wow! Ouch! Hooray!). The first word following the exclamation point is capitalized since it is the first word in a new sentence.
Milder interjections are set off by commas and often introduce a sentence (indeed, yes, well). The word following the comma is not capitalized because it is a continuation of the same sentence.
Strong interjection:
- Excellent! That was a perfect dive.
- You may be saying, “Hey! Why is the office cold?”
Mild interjection:
- No, we can’t visit you this summer.
- Well, I just thought I’d ask.
