Interjections

Interjections are words or phrases used to exclaim or protest or command. They sometimes stand by themselves, but they are often contained within larger structures.

Wow! I won the lottery!

Oh, I don't know about that.

I don't know what the heck you're talking about.

No, you shouldn't have done that.

Thanks. I appreciate it.

Most mild interjections are treated as parenthetical elements and set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma or set of commas. If the interjection is more forceful, however, it is followed with an exclamation mark. Interjections are rarely used in formal or academic writing.

Names are NOT interjections.

In the sentence:

Jim! Put that down!

“Jim” is still a (proper) noun.