Interjections

Summary
Alice and Warren talk about what kinds of words can be used as interjections, as well as why these words are usually set off from the rest of a sentence.

Transcript
(Alice is blowing up some balloons)

Alice: There. That's the last balloon for my birthday party.

Caption reads: Interjections

Narrator: Today, Alice and Warren are going to explain interjections.

Alice: Sometimes when we speak with really strong feelings, like surprise, anger. Or excitement, we don't always use complete sentences. Words just come out of us. These words are called interjections. Interjections are words or groups of words that express strong emotions. Any part of speech can be used as an interjection.

(Warren gives Alice a yellow box with a big red bow)

Warren: Here, Alice. This is for you.

Alice: Is that a birthday present? Hooray!

Warren: "Hooray" is an interjection. It's placed apart from the sentence and set off with an exclamation point.

(Alice opens her present to see what's inside)

Alice: Cool! It's that new video game where you capture and train fantastical creatures!

Warren: "Cool" is another interjection. It's expressing a very strong feeling. It's like Alice is saying "I can't wait to play this video game", so when it's written, we set it apart with an exclamation point.

Alice: That's for the great gift, Warren!

Warren: That's not all. There's more.

Alice: Really?

(Alice reaches into the box to pull out her second gift)

Alice: Not all interjections appear by themselves with exclamation points.

(Alice pulls out her second gift)

Alice: Wow, a T-shirt.

Warren: "Wow" is an interjection, but it doesn't carry as much emotion as before.

Alice: When interjections are less intense, we write them as part of the sentence, separated by a comma instead of an exclamation point.

Warren: Do you like the shirt I gave you, Alice?

Alice: No, no, I'm sorry, I don't like it...I love it! I was just trying to make a point. So, to sum up, you can see how interjections can help your writing. You can use them to show all kinds of excitement and emotion, from very mild to very strong.

(Warren grabs a needle and pops a balloon)

Alice: Hey!

(Warren pops another balloon)

Alice: Stop!

(Warren pops another balloon)

Alice: No!

(Warren pops another balloon)

Alice: Don't!

(Warren pops another balloon)

Alice: Quit it!

(Warren pops another balloon)

Alice: Arrrgh!

(Warren stops popping the balloons and looks at an irritated Alice)

Warren: Those were interjections, weren't they?

Alice: Yes...yes, those were interjections.

Warren: Well, those interjections were pretty strong.

Alice: I hate you.