A: Hey! Have you ever seen the cartoon, The Simpsons?
B: Duh! Everyone has seen The Simpsons!
A: What does Homer Simpson say when he makes a mistake?
B: He says "d'oh"!
D'oh is an example of an interjection. Homer says d'oh when he makes a mistake or something does not happen in the way he had planned.
Hey and Duh are also interjections. Hey is commonly used to attract attention: Hey you! Be careful, there's a car coming!
Duh is used in response to someone you think has made a foolish or stupid statement:
Where are glasses?
Duh - you are already wearing them!
Interjections are small expressive words that we use to show a sudden emotion. Use interjections to quickly show your feelings. They are most commonly used in spoken English and should be avoided in formal writing.
Used to show you are feeling cold!
Brrr! It's freezing in here. Turn the heater on.
Used to express fear or shock.
Eek! There's a mouse in the kitchen!
Used to show dissatisfaction, annoyance, mild surprise.
Geez! There's no need to get angry with me, I was only asking a question.
We say huh when we are confused or did not understand something.
Huh? What did he say? I didn't understand anything he said.
Ouch is used for something painful. We either hurt ourselves or we see someone get hurt./p>
Ouch! I just closed the door on my finger.
When you make a mistake or are clumsy we say oops.
Oops! I just spilled coffee on the floor.
Phew is used most commonly used to express relief.
Phew! We managed to get on the train just before it left. I'm glad me didn't miss it.
Well like er, um and hmm can all be used when we are thinking about something.
Um...well, I think we should paint the wall red instead of purple.
Wow shows our surprise, amazement or great pleasure.
Wow! This cake tastes amazing.
When we are disgusted by something, we say yuck.
Yuck! There's hair in my soup!
Now decide which interjection would be most appropriate in each sentence:
