VOA慢速英语--Mmm, That's Good! Using Interjections

 

Oops! I spilled some coffee.

Hmm… Let me think about it.

Woohoo! That’s great news. Let’s celebrate.

To the untrained ear, sounds like “oops” “hmm” and “woohoo” may seem like nonsense¹. But in English, these sounds carry a lot of meaning. We call them “interjections.” And the English language has hundreds of them.

Interjections are informal sounds, words or phrases that express the reactions or emotions of the speaker. There are interjections for nearly any feeling or response, such as excitement, happiness, surprise or disappointment.

Because there are so many English interjections, the best way to learn them is to hear how they’re used.

For example, if I accidentally² spilled coffee, my reaction would probably be one of regret. So, I might say, “Oops!” Listen to how it is used:

Oops! I spilled some coffee. But don’t worry—I’ll clean it up.

We use “oops” to show regret for having done or said something wrong. It’s like saying, “I made a mistake.”

When do we use them?

Native English speakers use interjections every day. And that includes everyone from babies to older adults. In fact, a baby’s first word might be an interjection. A baby might say “ow” or “ouch!” when they touch something too hot or “yum!” when their food tastes delicious.

But an adult might, too.

Interjections are used in spoken English, informal writing and creative writing, including in books, films and songs. You may remember American singer Britney Spears’ most famous song, “Oops! ...I Did It Again” in which she shows regret for breaking someone’s heart.

We do not use interjections in formal writing, such as essays or research papers. And, we usually avoid them in professional messages, such as business letters or emails.

Yet, their informal status does not make them any less useful of a communication tool. Even respected dictionaries now include their meanings.

Primary vs. secondary³

There are two types of interjections: primary and secondary.

Primary interjections are individual words and sounds that are used only as interjections. They have no other meanings or uses, such as the words from earlier in our program: “oops,” “hmm,” “woohoo,” “ow,” “ouch,” and “yum.”

Secondary interjections are words or phrases that already belong to other parts of speech, such as “boy,” “awesome,” and “oh my God.” These words all have separate meanings as interjections.

For example, the original meaning of the word “boy” is male child. But as an interjection, its meaning is completely different. It is used to express a strong reaction, such as interest or surprise. Here's an example:

My cat destroyed my roommate’s favorite plant. Boy, was he mad! But I promised to replace it by Sunday.

Using the interjection “boy” brings attention to the extent⁴ of the roommate’s anger.

Parts of speech

Even though interjections are informal, they are parts of speech. They can be nouns⁶, verbs or adverbs.

Here is an interjection as a noun⁵:

Baloney! That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

Using the word “baloney” is a direct – and somewhat⁷ confrontational⁸ – way of saying, “I don’t agree with that.”

…as a verb:

Get out! The tickets sold out in 15 minutes. That’s impossible.

“Get out” means “I don’t believe it” and is usually used in a friendly way.

…and as an adverb:

Uh-uh. I can’t make it today. I have a meeting at 5pm.

“Uh-uh” simply means “no” but is usually used to emphasize⁹ a negative answer to a question, request or offer.

But be careful not to mistake “uh-uh” with an interjection that sounds and looks similar but has the opposite meaning: “Uh-huh.” It means yes. It can also be used to show that you agree or understand. Here’s an example:

Do you know what I mean?

Uh-huh. I feel the same way.

Punctuation¹⁰

Interjections do not follow usual English rules of punctuation. They mostly have no relationship to other parts of a sentence. So, they are usually written separately and followed by an exclamation¹¹ point or a period. This is because their meanings alone can often express a complete thought.

Earlier in the program, for example, we told you that “oops” means “I made a mistake.” That is a complete thought, so it does not need to be part of a sentence.

Still, we can follow them with a comma. You could, for example, write, “Oops, I spilled some coffee” with a comma following “oops” instead of a period or exclamation point.

The punctuation usually depends on the emotion you are expressing. To show excitement, we usually use an exclamation point after an interjection, which keeps it separate from sentences.

Common interjections

OK, now let’s learn a few more common interjections:

If something is generally unpleasant, whether in appearance, taste or smell, you can say “yuck,” “eww,” “ick,” or “blech.”

If you want to say something tastes or smells good, you can use “mmm” or “yum.”

If you are frustrated¹² or upset about something, you might say “ugh” or “argh.”

One thing to note: Different parts of the United States may use different interjections. Listen again to the example with “baloney.”

Baloney! That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.

The word “baloney” is most common in the northeastern United States.

And, other forms of English, such as British English, share only some interjections with American English.

Listen for American English interjections the next time you are watching a movie or television show or listening to music. And let us know what you find.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

informal – adj. relaxed in tone¹³ : not suited for serious or official speech and writing

phrase – n. a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not usually form a complete sentence

essay – n. a short piece of writing that tells a person's thoughts or opinions about a subject

dictionary – n. a reference¹⁴ book that contains words listed in alphabetical¹⁵ order and that gives information about the words' meanings, forms, pronunciations, etc.

original – adj. happening or existing first or at the beginning

emphasize – v. to give special attention to (something)

punctuation – n. the marks (such as periods and commas) in a piece of writing that make its meaning clear and that separate it into sentences, clauses¹⁶, etc.

frustrated – adj. very angry, discouraged, or upset because of being unable to do or complete something

1 nonsense   

n.胡说，废话

参考例句：

• Go along with you! What you say is all nonsense!去你的！你说的全是废话！
• "Don't talk nonsense",she said sharply.“别胡扯”，她严厉地说。

2 accidentally   

adv.偶然地；意外地

参考例句：

• Mary accidentally let out that her mother had telephoned.玛丽无意中说出她的母亲来过电话。
• As I turned around,I accidentally hit him in the face.我转身时不经意撞了他的脸。

3 secondary   

adj.中级的，中等的，次要的；n.次要位置，副手

参考例句：

• It's a question of secondary importance.这是个次要的问题。
• Secondary school means junior school and high school.中学是指初中和高中。

4 extent   

n.程度，范围，限度；广度，宽度，大小

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent. 这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• What's the extent of the damage? 损坏的程度如何?

5 noun   

n.名词

参考例句：

• What kind of noun is this?这是哪类名词？
• This word is a collective noun.这个词是个集体名词。

6 nouns   

n.名词；名词( noun的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

8 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

9 emphasize   

vt.加强…的语气，强调，着重

参考例句：

• I must emphasize the fact that she is only a little girl. 我必须强调这样一个事实，这就是她只不过是个小女孩。
• I must emphasize the fact that they are only children. 我必须强调这一事实,即他们只不过是孩子。

10 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

11 exclamation   

n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词

参考例句：

• He could not restrain an exclamation of approval.他禁不住喝一声采。
• The author used three exclamation marks at the end of the last sentence to wake up the readers.作者在文章的最后一句连用了三个惊叹号，以引起读者的注意。

12 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 tone   

n.语气，音调，气度，色调；vt.（up）增强

参考例句：

• There was a tone of mockery in his voice.他说话的语气含有嘲笑的意味。
• Holmes used an informal,chatty tone in his essays.霍姆斯在文章中语气轻松随便。

14 reference   

n.提到，说到，暗示，查看，查阅

参考例句：

• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。
• I like to have my reference books within my reach.我喜欢把参考书放到伸手可取的地方。

15 alphabetical   

adj.字母（表）的，依字母顺序的

参考例句：

• Please arrange these books in alphabetical order.请把这些书按字母顺序整理一下。
• There is no need to maintain a strict alphabetical sequence.不必保持严格的字顺。

16 clauses   

从句( clause的名词复数 )； （法律文件等的）条款

参考例句：

• Relative pronouns and adverbs introduce attributive clauses. 关系代词和关系副词引导定语从句。
• Please underline the noun clauses in the passage. 请用线画出短文中的名词性从句。