It is common, when learning a new language, to forget about the interjections. It takes long time, for us, non-native English speakers to learn the most common interjections and on the top of that, to use them properly and naturally. Let’s focus on the main ones!
Emotion of Joy / Approval / Surprise / Relief
- Hooray!: Use to express joy or approval. Hooray! We won the game!
- Yay: Express joy and excitement. Yay! England is in for the Quarterfinals!
- Yippee: Exclamation of celebration. Yippee! We are going for a picnic.
- Yahoo!: Emotion of Joy. Yahoo! We go on holidays.
- Ahh: Realization or acceptance. Ahh! Now I see what you mean.
- Geez: Surprise. Geez! That car is tiny!
- Aww: Expressing affection. Something sweet or cute. Aww! Just look at that kitten.
- Whew: Amazement and/or relief. Whew! That was close.
- Wow: Expressing amazing. Wow! What a beautiful house!
- You bet!: You may be sure; certainly. Could you give me a hand? You bet!
Emotion of Fear / Disliking / Anger / Pain
- Aah: Exclamation of fear. Aah! It is biting my leg!
- Argh: To express anger. Argh! I failed again.
- Eek: Fear/ Surprise. Eek, a mouse!
- Yikes: For fear or concern. Yikes! They stole my credit card!
- Eww: Expressing disgust. Eww! It tastes so bad!
- Hmph: Apathy or disagreement. “Don’t blame me. It is your fault.””Hmph”
- Ugh: Express disgust or horror. I dropped my phone again, ugh.
- Yuck: Strong distaste or disgust. I tried the cake and yuck, it wasn’t any good.
- Phew: Strong reaction of relief. Phew! I am not trying that again.
- Ouch: Express hurts. Ouch! That shot really hurt!
Expressing Doubt or Hesitation/ Sorrow / Scorn / Mistake
- Eh: Question something. Eh, what did you say? Eh! Really?
- Er: Not knowing what to say. Er, that is just aggravating.
- Duh: Something that is obvious. Duh! You didn’t plug it in.
- Hmm: Hesitating about something. Hmm, I am not really sure what happened.
- Oh: I see / I think. Oh! I forgot to bring my purse!
- Oops/Whoops-a-daisy: Acknowledgement of mistake. Oops! I left the milk out.
- No chance!: Absolutely not; under no circumstances. No chance! Your are going out.
- Uh Oh: Showing dismay. Uh-oh! Dude, you are in major trouble now.
- Uh: Indicate pause. Do you remember, uh, how used to play this game.
- Um: Pausing or being skeptical. Do you know, um, which way to follow?
