Page 152 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

Interjections are a kind of exclamation inserted into regular speech.
Interjections have a special place in English: they don’t have a grammatical

function, they usually cannot be inflected or modified, they do not have to be
related to the other parts of the sentence, and they are highly context-sensitive.

In spoken language, interjections are the words we blurt out when something
unexpected has happened. They’re the kinds of words we don’t have to think

about first.

Interjections are not usually appropriate for formal speech or writing.
It’s no coincidence that interjections often appear in the company of

exclamation marks (see section 16.4). Just as with that punctuation,
unsophisticated writers tend to overuse interjections to show emotion. However,

interjections are often blunt instruments and far less effective than using a
subtler arrangement of the right nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Interjections have at least four roles.

1. Express mood, emotions, and feeling, especially suddenly, or

especially with emphasis. There are many taboo words that fall under
this usage, which we will leave for the reader to discover.

Wow! That’s an amazing rainbow.

Aw, I wanted ice cream but someone has eaten it all.
What? You never told me you were engaged to be married!
Damn! Somebody made $1,000 in charges on my credit card.

Not sure about eating ostrich meat, huh?

2. Interrupt a conversation or a thought, or hold someone’s attention for
a moment.

Your, um, jeans zipper is undone.
I’m, uh, trying to ask you out on a date, in case you couldn’t tell.

Well, I don’t know what to think. She said he would be here.
3. Express yes or no.

Yes! I will most definitely do it.
Nah, I don’t think we’re going. We’d rather stay home.

Nope, nope, nope. I’m not going in there until the spiders are