Polar Games
Guide

Interjections: Meaning, List and Examples

What an interjection is, a list grouped by feeling (joy, surprise, pain, relief, disgust), how to punctuate them and how they differ from onomatopoeia.

By Polarzinho ·

Polarzinho looking amazed and dropping a bamboo stalk in a garden, surrounded by colorful speech bubbles and giant exclamation marks

Yay! Phew! Ouch! Oops! I say about fifty of these a day, mostly when my bamboo falls on the floor. Those little words that pop out full of feeling are interjections.

Here you get what an interjection is, a list grouped by feeling, how to punctuate them and a trick to tell them apart from onomatopoeia.

Play Plop! Fruit Merge Play Twirldrop

What is an interjection?

An interjection is a word or short phrase that shows a feeling, a reaction or a call for attention. It does not change form, and it can stand alone as a whole sentence.

  • Ouch! I hit my toe. (pain)
  • Phew, the test is over! (relief)
  • Shh! The baby is sleeping. (asking for silence)

List of interjections by feeling

Joy

Yay! Hooray! Woohoo! Yippee!

Surprise

Wow! Whoa! Oh! Gosh! Oh my!

Pain

Ouch! Ow!

Relief

Phew! Whew!

Mistakes

Oops! Whoops! Uh-oh!

Disgust

Yuck! Ew! Ugh!

Realizing something

Aha! Oh!

Sympathy

Aw! Aww!

Getting attention

Hey! Psst!

Silence

Shh!

Greetings and goodbyes

Hi! Hello! Bye!

Hesitation

Um, uh, er, hmm.

Agreement

Yes! Okay! Sure!

How to punctuate interjections

  1. Strong feelings take an exclamation mark: "Wow! That was fast."
  2. Mild feelings take a comma inside the sentence: "Oh, I see what you mean."
  3. Questions can take a question mark: "Huh? What did you say?"

Interjection or onomatopoeia?

An interjection shows what you feel. Onomatopoeia imitates a sound in the world.

  • Interjection: "Ouch!", when I hit my toe.
  • Onomatopoeia: "Tick-tock", the sound of the clock.

Interjections in games

Nobody plays in silence. In Plop! Fruit Merge, when two matching fruits merge into a mango, a "Yay!" comes out right away.

A merge creating a mango in Plop! Fruit Merge, with a mission complete banner at the top of the screen

PolarzinhoYay! A mango! Woohoo! Mission complete!

Plop! Fruit Merge: two matching fruits become a bigger one.

In Twirldrop, the ball drops down the tower and every near miss turns into a "Whoa!". And when the record falls, it is "Hooray!".

Ball dropping down the colorful Twirldrop tower, with the score at the top of the screen

PolarzinhoWhoa, whoa, whoa... phew!

Twirldrop: spin the tower and drop floor by floor.

FAQ

What is an interjection?

A word that shows a feeling or reaction, like "wow!", "ouch!" and "shh!".

Is "um" an interjection?

Yes. Um, uh and er are interjections of hesitation.

Do interjections always need an exclamation mark?

Only strong ones. Mild interjections usually take a comma.

What is the difference between an interjection and onomatopoeia?

An interjection shows a feeling; onomatopoeia imitates a sound.

Your turn

Which feeling does each one show: "Phew!", "Yuck!" and "Aha!"? And which interjection do you shout when you lose a game by a hair?

Play Plop! Fruit Merge Play Twirldrop