Use interjections to express emotion!

What are interjections?

Interjections are words used to express emotion. There are hundreds of them, and they are very common in everyday English conversation.

Examples of Interjections in English Conversation

The best way to learn interjections is not by studying a list, but by learning how each interjection is used in real conversations. Here are 10 common interjections in English and examples of their use in conversations:

Wow

Use this interjections to express surprise.

“My son got a full scholarship to Harvard!”

“Wow – good for him! What’s he going to study?”

Depending on the intonation, wow can express positive surprise or negative surprise:

“I got a promotion at work!”

“Wow! Congratulations!”

“My husband was just fired from his job.”

“Wow – I’m sorry to hear that.”

Ouch / Ow

Use these interjections to express pain in the moment when you hurt yourself:

“Ow!”

“What happened?”

“I banged my knee on the corner of the table.”

Ew / Ick / Yuck / Ugh

Use these interjections to express disgust.

“While cleaning the house, I found a dead rat under the bed.”

“Ew!”

Aha!

Use this interjection when you make a sudden discovery or realization.

“I’m having a problem with my printer. Could you take a look?”

“It doesn’t look like there’s a paper jam. What happens when you try to print?”

“I get an error message that says ‘cannot find printer.'”

“Aha! That’s the problem – you don’t have the printer software installed.”

Shh

Use this interjection to tell somebody to be quiet.

“Shh! The movie’s about to start.”

Oops / Whoops

Use these interjections when you make a mistake (or to react to someone else’s mistake).

Example 1 (making a mistake):

“Oops – I just spilled my soda all over the table.”

“I’ll get some paper towels to clean it up.

 

Example 2 (reaction to a mistake):

“I borrowed a book from my teacher and then left it on the bus.”

“Whoops! Was she mad?”

Woohoo! / Yay! / Hurray! / Huzzah!

Use these interjections to express happiness or excitement.

“Were you able to get tickets to the football game?”

“Yes – I got the last two before they sold out!”

“Woohoo! I can’t wait!”

Duh / Whoop-dee-doo / La-dee-dah / Pffft

Use these interjections to express sarcasm. They should only be used with very close friends, because they would be offensive and inappropriate in a business context or a social context.

Duh is used in reaction to an extremely obvious statement:

“Hey, did you know you can share pictures on Facebook?”

“Duh.”

Whoop-dee-doo is used when you want to say something is not as great as it seems. It’s like “Who cares?”

“I won $20 in the lottery!”

“Whoop-dee-doo.”

La-dee-dah is also used to express “I don’t really care,” in reaction to somebody else trying to sound impressive or show off:

“My boyfriend bought me a Ferrari.”

“Well, la-dee-dah.“

Pffft is used to sarcastically dismiss or disagree what the other person says:

“The Red Sox are going to win the World Series this year!”

“Pffft. In your dreams!”

Awww

Use this interjection in reaction to something cute or adorable.

“Here’s a picture of my daughter – she’s two years old.”

“Aww, what a cutie!”

Um / Uh

Use these interjections to pause while you think of what to say next.

“How many students are there at your university?”

“Um, I’m not sure. I think around 2,000 – but I’ll have to check the website.”

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Prefixes are added to the beginnings of words to change their meaning.

For example, the prefix UN- means the opposite:

• happy  
• unhappy  

The prefix OVER- means “too much:”

• spend –> overspend (spend too much money)

Here are 10 common prefixes in English with example words and sentences:

PRE- = before

• prepaid – “I bought a prepaid phone card with $20 worth of credit.”
• predict - “I predict that Brazil will win the next World Cup.”
• prevent – “Seat belts can prevent serious injuries if you get into a car accident.”

POST- = after

• postgraduate – “There are 200 students in the postgraduate program in marketing.”
• postwar - “The country’s economy struggled during the postwar period.”
• posthumous – (after death): “The author received a posthumous award for his book.”

MULTI- = many

• multicultural – “Our group of friends is quite multicultural – we know people from five continents.”
• multimillionaire – “He started a successful business and became a multimillionaire.”
• multiply – (to become many): “My problems multiplied until they completely took over my life.”

MONO- = one

• monopolize – (only one person or entity having control of something): “That company is trying to monopolize the market by signing exclusivity contracts with distributors.”
• monologue - (only one person talking): “My friend launched into a 15-minute monologue about what she thinks of the new president.”
• monotheistic - (only believing in one God): “Judaism is a monotheistic religion.”

BI- = two

• bicycle – (has two wheels): “My son’s learning how to ride a bicycle.”
• bilingual – (speaks two languages): “Most of the company managers are bilingual.”
• bipartisan - (involving two political parties): “The law has bipartisan support.”

OVER- = too much

• oversleep – “I overslept by an hour and missed my first class.”
• overpriced - “Everything in that store is overpriced. They charge $60 for a T-shirt!”
• overheat - “Stop the car! I think the engine is overheating.”

UNDER- = too little

• undercooked – “This chicken is undercooked; I don’t think it’s safe to eat.”
• underrepresented - “Women are underrepresented in our company leadership – only 2 of the 35 managers and directors are women.”
• underestimate - (to think too little of something) – “I underestimated the cost of our vacation, and we ended up spending far more than we’d budgeted.”

SUPER- = extra, extreme, over, above

• supermodel – (a really famous, highly-paid model): “Gisele Bündchen is a Brazilian supermodel.”
• supercomputer - (an extremely powerful computer): “NASA’s supercomputers control the rocket launch.”
• superfluous – (something extra and not needed): “You should cut superfluous words from your sentences.”

MIS- = wrong

• misunderstand – “I misunderstood the teacher – I did exercise 5 instead of exercise 4.”
• misbehave - “My children were misbehaving at the birthday party, so I took them home early.”
• misplace - (to lose something because you put it in the wrong place): “I seem to have misplaced my glasses.”

ANTI- = opposite, against

• antisocial - “She’s a bit antisocial – she avoids parties and other social situations.”
• anti-aging - “My mother uses anti-aging lotion to make her skin look younger.”
• anticlimactic – (an event that was not as exciting / interesting as imagined): “The end of the movie was rather anticlimactic.”

Out of shape / In shape

“Six months ago, I was out of shape. Now I’m in great shape!”

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Common expressions:

• I need to go to the gym. I’m really out of shape.
• I want to get in shape before the summer!
• My personal trainer is in great shape – there isn’t an ounce of fat on his body.

Work out

“Work out” is another word for “exercise”

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Common expressions:

• I always work out in the morning, when I have the most energy.
• Yesterday I worked out for 3 hours – I’m exhausted!
• I like to listen to English podcasts while working out.

Stretch

“It’s really important to stretch before working out.”

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Common expressions:

• Let’s stretch before we start running.
• Stretching helps reduce exercise-related injuries.
• Breathe deeply and count to 30 as you stretch.

Push-ups

“I do three sets of 20 push-ups every morning.”

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Common expressions:

• My goal is to do 100 push-ups in a row.
• I did 50 push-ups yesterday, and now my arms are sore.
• John can do push-ups with only one arm!

Flabby / Toned

“A few months after starting my daily push-up routine, my flabby arms became toned!”

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Common expressions:

• I wish my arms weren’t so flabby.
• My sister has perfectly toned arms.

Sit-ups

“Sit-ups are torture!”

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Common expressions:

• At the end of soccer practice, the coach made us all do 200 sit-ups.
• I try to do 50 sit-ups right after I wake up.

Note: There is a variation of the sit-up in which your legs are in the air and you only raise your body a little bit off the floor. These are called crunches.

Six-pack

“I wish I had a six-pack like that guy!”

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Common expressions:

• What’s the fastest way to get six-pack abs?
• My cousin lost a lot of weight, and now he even has a six-pack!

Sprint

To “sprint” is to run as fast as you can

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Common expressions

• We do sprint training during basketball practice.
• I can sprint 100 meters in 12 seconds.
• She sprinted the last few meters of the race and came in second place.

Note: “Sprinting” is the fastest. It is faster than normal “running.” Then there’s “jogging” (slower than running, but faster than walking) and the slowest is “walking.”

Pull a muscle

A “pulled muscle” is an injury: the muscle stretches too far

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Common expressions:

• Be careful not to pull a muscle.
• Ouch! I think I pulled a muscle in my leg.
• If you pull a muscle, you should apply ice to reduce swelling.

Out of breath / Catch your breath

“Just a minute! I need to catch my breath.”

Out of breath = When you have difficulty breathing after exercising hard.

Catch your breath = When you stop to wait for your breathing to return to normal.

Afro

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Bangs

Bangs are short hairs that cover your forehead.

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Braid

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Bun

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Buzz Cut

Buzz cuts are commonly used in the military

Cornrows

Cornrows are multiple braids that stay close to the head

Dreadlocks

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Layers

Hair with layers is shorter in some places and longer in others

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Mohawk

Part

Hair with a “part” is divided in the middle or on one side

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Perm

Hair with a perm has been chemically treated to change its shape

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Ponytail

Many women put their hair in a ponytail when playing sports

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Pigtails

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Spiked

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Updo

An “updo” is any style in which the hair is pulled up and back. Often used for formal events.

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