Interjections! Yay! Hmm? What are they?

Hi. This is Gill, here, at www.engvid.com, and today the lesson is about "Interjections".

That's a very long word. What it really means is something quite short: Little expressions

that we make to express a particular feeling. Okay? And just to say thank you, someone on

our website at engVid, somebody... One of you suggested this topic, so thank you for

the suggestion. And here is the lesson. So, I hope you're watching, whoever it was. Right.

So interjections: A short word expressing a feeling. So, we'll just go through different

groups of these.

So, first one to start with is just: "Ha!" Usually, if you're surprised or something

has amused you, if you think something is funny, you just say: "Ha!" Or you can say

it with a different tone of voice to sound a little bit sarcastic. So, if someone has

said: "Oh, I had a really good job interview the other day. I think I'm going to get that job."

And you say: "Ha!" You know, so different body language, different tone of voice, it

can mean something slightly different. It's as if you're saying to that person:

"Oh, you think you're going to get that job, do you? You're very confident. Mm."

But you can just use it in one little expression. "Ha!" and a sort of nod, and a certain look on your

face. So, body language goes with it, and tone of voice.

If you put an "a" in front of this "ha": "Aha!", "Aha!" So, if you say: "Aha!" that is like

saying: "Oh, you've said something really important, there." And: "Aha!" Well, that

is very true. Something like that. "Aha!"

Similarly: "Oho!", "Oho!" also. Or if somebody says something that tells you something more

about them maybe that they didn't really want you to know, like, oh okay, if your friend

says: "Oh, I... I didn't get up on Sunday until 1 o'clock in the afternoon." And you

say: "Oho!" as if you're sort of imagining why that friend stayed in bed so long. You

can use your own imagination, there, but it's a sort of suggestive kind of expression. "Oho! Mm."

This one is rather different. It doesn't really belong with those three, but it's on the same

line. If you say: "Wow!" There's a thing called "the wow factor", which is used often with

property. If you're looking at somebody's house or somebody's flat or apartment, and

you walk in for the first time, and it's so nice and so impressive, you just look around

and you say: "Wow!" And I once walked into a friend's flat, and they had a glass floor

and you went into their main door, and you looked down and they had a basement area,

a lower floor, and you walked in their front door, you looked down at the floor and it's

made of glass that you can see through. And I just looked down, and to see their basement,

and I said: "Oh, wow! Well, that's amazing." So: "Wow!" is for surprise or when you're

feeling really impressed by something. And the wow factor is what estate agents talk

about when they are trying to sell a property, they say: "This property really has the wow factor."

So it's that kind of word. I think maybe this word appears in other languages

in a similar meaning.

But just to say that these expressions in English are not necessarily the same in other

languages. So, in your language, you may have different sounds, different vowel sounds,

probably, for different things. Maybe in French, some... A French person might say: "Aha!"

so different sort of nasal: "Aha!" Or: "Oh la la!" So, we... We don't go around, saying:

"Oh la la!" in... In this country very much, unless we're being a bit flamboyant. So, these

are specifically English or English speaking, either British, or American, Canadian, other

English-speaking countries. They're... They're not necessarily the kind of expressions you

would use in your language, so, you have to learn them, really, if you want to sound like

an... A good English-speaking person, it's good to learn these particular pronunciations.

Okay, so let's move on to the next line. This one's a bit American, but we use this quite

a lot now because we watch a lot of American films and so on. So, if you say: "Yay!" like

that: "Yay!" it's when you're really pleased that you have achieved something, or a friend

has achieved something, something really good has happened, and it's a way of sort of celebrating.

"Oh, that's really good." You just say: "Yay!" like that. Or, if... A similar one: "Whey!"

Similarly, same sort of meaning. And also: "Wa-hey!" which is a little bit longer. They

all suggest some sort of... That you're pleased about something, or excited about something.

Okay.

So, next line, you can say the word: "Well" in... In different ways. If you're not sure

what to say if someone asks you a question, you could say it like this: "Well..." And,

you know, then you pause and you're trying to think what to say. Or, maybe if someone

annoys you, if somebody does something bad, like they... They tread on your foot or something,

and then they just walk straight passed, and they don't say: "Sorry", they don't apologize,

they just walk straight on and say nothing, and so: "Well!" So, you say it like that:

"Well! Ah! Dreadful! Well!" So, that's another way. Different ways of tone of voice, body

language. It's just a sound that you make and the way you say it carries the meaning

in that particular situation. Okay.

So, okay... I just said: "Ok!" and that's the next word: "Ok!" So, you know the word:

"Ok!" Perhaps you use it in your language. Again, you could say it in different ways.

So, if a friend suggests: "Shall we go to lunch now?" You can say: "Ok!" in a nice sort

of simple, happy way. Or if they say: "Oh, shall we go to lunch now?" And you say:

"Mm, ok", as if you're not... You don't really want to go now,

but because your friend wants to go, you will go with them, and you want...

You're letting them know that you're not really

hungry yet, but: "Ok, ok, might as well go now." So, the way you say it makes the difference.

Or if you walk into the room and you have some work to do, and there are other people

there and you want to say: "Right, let's get started now", you can say: "Ok!" And then

let's get started on this project. "Ok!" So, different ways of saying it.

Some complete words, which you can say as interjections, you can say: "Great!",

"Oh, great! The sun's shining." So, things like that if something positive is happening. "Brilliant!",

"Brilliant!" If someone shows you they've just baked a cake or something, and it looks

really nice and you want to be polite as well, you say: "Oh, brilliant! Brilliant!" So, again,

it depends how you say it. But they're both positive: "Great!", "Brilliant!"

Okay, so now we'll have a look at some less positive examples. "Oh!" Well, that can be

either positive or negative, but just: "Oh!", "Oh! I didn't know he was here today." Or

if something really bad has happened: "Oh!" So, again, different ways of saying it.

"Oh dear!" is definitely a negative expression. "Oh dear!" So if something bad happens. If

you're wanting to sympathize with somebody, if a friend comes and says:

-"I've lost my purse with all my money in it."

-"Oh dear!" You can say it in a really sympathetic way.

If the person who's trot on your foot earlier, instead of just saying: "Well!", you can say:

"Hey!" like that. What do you think you're doing? "Hey!" So, that is to sort of say to

someone: "Just a minute. Aren't you going to say you're sorry for doing that?" Ah!

And here: "Just a minute!", "Just a minute!" you can say that in quite a strong way.

"Just a minute! Aren't you going to say you're sorry for treading on my toe?"

Ah, dear. So: "Just a minute!" Okay.

In another lesson, I said: "Don't say 'what'", but you can in the right context. You can...

It's not good to say it if you don't understand what somebody said, but you can say it if

something surprises you and you don't quite understand... If someone walks passed the

window in strange clothes, then you say: "What!", "What! What's that? What!",

"What's going on?" sort of idea. Okay.

If you're busy doing something and someone says something, and you're not really listening

and you don't really want them to keep talking to you, because you're busy with something

else, you can just say: "Mm? Mm?" And hopefully it will make them go away. You're saying:

"Mm? What?" but you don't really want them to say it again, but you're just saying: "Mm?"

Or if you want to agree with somebody with this, you could say: "Mm. Mm." And it doesn't

show a lot of interest. It's sort of designed to put... Put them off, really, and make them

go away because you're busy with something else. And similarly: "Hmm... Hmm..." also

doesn't show a lot of interest. It's a little bit rude. You have to be quite careful how

you use these.

If you... This is quite rude as well. If you go: "Shh!" you're make... You're telling someone

to be quiet: "Shh!" and usually, people don't like you to do that, unless you do it in a

polite way. "Shh, shh, shh, shh", like that. Or, this one, if you want to attract someone's

attention, you can go: "Psst! Psst!" like that, and they look around, and: "Psst!" and

you might do this to get them to come to you so you can say something quietly to them.

If you're... And again, the person who trot on my foot earlier, if I don't say: "Well!"

or "Hey! Just a minute", you could say: "Tut-tut!" It's just a "tut-tut-tut", tut. It says "Tut-tut!"

but really, all it is is a "t" sound that you make, two t's. "Tut-tut! Tut-tut!" with

your tongue on the roof of your mouth. "Tut-tut! Tut-tut-tut!" when you're annoyed about something.

It's very quiet, but they would probably hear it. So it's to show that you're annoyed about

something that somebody has done.

Okay, now if you're disgusted with something, you can say: "Ugh!", "Ugh!" The milk, the

milk has gone sour: "Ugh!" Horrible. "Ugh!" Or: "Yuk!", "Yuk!" It means the same. "Yuk!"

with a "k" or a "ck": "Yuck!" Same pronunciation. Or even: "Eugh!", "Eugh!" E-u-g-h: "Eugh!"

so you make a worse looking face with "Eugh!" Okay.

If you're relieved about something... If you were worried and stressed, but then suddenly

everything is fine again, you can go: "Whew!", "Whew!" That's spelt like that, but it's more

like: [Makes noise]. Or: "Phew!", "Phew!" It's the same thing. Sometimes people do that,

as if they're wiping the sweat of their face: "Whew! Phew!" if they're relieved.

This one: "Yikes!" is if something has happened surprising, or... But you're sort of relieved

as well that you're okay: "Yikes!"

And then finally: When people are speaking, sometimes they stop; they pause. They're not

sure what to say next, so they say: "Uh...", "Er...", "Um..." and that's what the dots

are for, that's the pausing afterwards. They're trying to think what to say. Okay.

So, I hope that is all helpful for you. There is a quiz on this on the website: www.engvid.com,

so please go there and take the quiz. And see you again next time.

Thanks for watching. Bye.