Parts of Speech · Today with Izzy

It's How You Feel

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I'm Izzy, and I express emotion. Mild or strong, I'm the feeling that runs through every scene.

Meet the Interjection!

An interjection is a word that expresses emotion and stands apart from the rest of the sentence, doing no job inside it. A mild feeling is set off with a comma, and a strong feeling is set off with an exclamation mark. The interjection brings the feeling; the punctuation officers bring the marks.

One strong feeling caps a long ordeal, and one mild feeling honors a quiet goodbye.

Phew! After three overtimes, the game was finally, mercifully over.

Alas, some farewells are too quiet for an exclamation mark.

Identifying Interjections

To find the interjection, look for the word that bursts in with pure feeling. It does not name a person, a place, or a thing the way a noun does, and it does not show an action the way a verb does. It stands apart and simply feels.

In a sentence

One interjection sets up a mild question, and one bursts out with a strong feeling.

Um, do you have any crayons I could borrow?

No! Those are my crayons!

Now you try

An interjection jumps right in with a feeling. You could try Oh, Gee, or Well. Any feeling you have works.

Mild or Strong?

Every interjection carries a feeling, and the one call to make is whether that feeling is mild or strong. A mild feeling is set off with a comma, and a strong feeling is set off with an exclamation mark.

In a sentence

One feeling is mild, set apart with a comma; one is strong, set apart with an exclamation mark.

Gee, those potato chips sure are expensive.

Yay! I just won the lottery!

Library

Now you try

A mild interjection is a gentle little feeling, set off with a comma. You could try Hmmm, Well, or Um. A soft one is perfect here.

Same Word, Different Feeling

The same interjection can carry two different feelings, because the feeling lives in how it is said. Oh can be a calm hello or a burst of surprise, so the same word can be mild in one moment and strong in the next.

In a sentence

The same word, oh, is gentle in the first and a burst of surprise in the second.

Oh, that is interesting.

Oh! You scared me!

Now you try

An interjection can show surprise the moment it hits. You could try Whoa, Wow, or Yikes. Whatever you feel works.

Where Interjections Belong

An interjection expresses the writer's feeling, so it belongs where feeling belongs: dialogue, a note to a friend, a personal story. In a report or a formal letter, where the facts carry the weight, the interjection stands down.

In a sentence

The first sentence is dialogue, where a feeling belongs; the second is a report, where the interjection steps aside.

In a story's dialogue: "Whoa, did you see that?" she gasped.

In a formal report, the interjection stands down: The temperature rose by ten degrees.

Now you try

An interjection can open an excited line of dialogue with feeling. You could try Oh, Wow, or Ooh. Any happy one fits.

Full Volume, Exactly Once

An interjection lands because it is rare and real. A whole page of strong interjections becomes noise, but one perfectly placed feeling becomes music. Restraint is the highest form of expression, even for the loudest word in town.

In a sentence

The first line spends every feeling at once and lands none; the second spends one and lands it completely.

Noise: Wow! Amazing! Incredible! Unbelievable! Whoa!

Music: The room went silent, and then, softly, Oh.

Now you try

After all that noise, a quiet interjection lands the feeling best. You could try Oh, Well, or Ah. Sometimes soft says the most.