English Grammar 101: Interjections

Interjection comes from from a Latin word that means “throw between.” It’s a word or phrase that is thrown into a sentence to express an emotion:

Goodness, how you’ve grown!
Darn, I forgot my lunch!
Alas, will he never return?

All the impolite expressions that we call expletives are interjections.

Strictly speaking, an interjection is not a part of speech. It serves no grammatical function but is rather “a noisy utterance like the cry of an animal” (F.J. Rahtz). Interjections express feeling or emotion, not thought and have been called “the miserable refuge of the speechless.”

If you’ve ever stood lunch duty on a high school campus, you know just how vapid conversation can be when larded with meaningless interjections.

Maeve Maddox on July 16, 2008 Subscribe to our RSS Feed

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4 Responses to “English Grammar 101: Interjections”

  1. Michael Cortes on July 16, 2008 12:22 pm

    As I read this post, my mind cannot help but wander back to saturday morning cartoons in my childhood. Schoolhouse Rock had a segment on interjections and it sticks in my mind and a fun and catchy tune. I always marvel at how those tunes would stick in my mind with the accompanying educations knowledge.

  2. Ulla Hennig on July 16, 2008 6:55 pm

    Thanks for this post and for the blog! Goodness, how much can I learn from that - me being not a native speaker! English teachers in Germany should use your blog in their lessons.

  3. Maeve on July 17, 2008 3:09 pm

    Michael,
    When I taught French I used music a lot. It’s a great teaching tool.

  4. Maeve on July 17, 2008 3:12 pm

    Ulla,
    Vielen Dank für die freundlichen Worte!

    Please suggest it to a teacher you know.

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