English interjections

English interjections are a category of English words – such as yeah, ouch, Jesus, oh, mercy, yuck, etc. – whose defining features are the infrequency with which they combine with other words to form phrases, their loose connection to other elements in clauses, and their tendency to express emotive meaning. These features separate English interjections from the language's other lexical categories, such as nouns and verbs. Though English interjections, like interjections in general, are often overlooked in descriptions of the language, English grammars do offer minimal descriptions of the category.

In terms of their phonology, English interjections are typically separated from the surrounding discourses by pauses, and they can contain sounds not otherwise found in English. English interjections tend not to take inflectional or derivational morphemes. In terms of their syntax, they tend not to form constituents with other words and are parenthetical rather than integrated into the clauses in which they occur. Semantically, they often have emotive or interpersonal meanings and their use is sometimes called exclamatory. English interjections fill several pragmatic roles in English, including greeting and indicating agreement.