An interjection is a word that shows emotion. It is not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.
Interjections are usually one to two words that come at the beginning of a sentence. They can show happiness (Yippee!), sadness (Aww!), anger (Grrr!), surprise (Holy cow!), or any other emotion.
It is not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence.
What the heck does that mean, anyway? Well, it means that unlike all of the other parts of speech, the interjection does not interact with any other words in the sentence. It does not modify anything, it does not get modified by anything. It does not play the role of subject or verb.
It pretty much just sits in its lonely little interjection corner and expresses emotion. Geez,... that sounds pretty sad... poor little guys.
Wow, I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch.
Beware!
Don't get fooled into thinking that all introductory words followed by an exclamation point or a comma are interjections - they're not!
Hmmm... what is an interjection? Do you remember?
It is a word that shows emotion. So, if the word in question does not show emotion, it is probably not an interjection.
Let's take a look:
Maria! Come and see the lion!
Names like this one are not interjections. They are nouns because they name people. When you say someone's name while you talk to him, it is called direct address.
Names also don't fit our definition of an interjection because they do not show emotion. The tone of voice that you say them in may show emotion, but the name itself does not.
Stop! The lion will eat you!
The word stop is not an interjection. It is a verb because it shows action.
Although the sentence as a whole does convey a sense of urgency (Who wants to get eaten by a lion?), the word stop is not showing emotion, it is telling you what to do.
Diagram Interjections!
Diagramming sentences is a visual way to show how the words in a sentence are related to each other.
It will be easy to see that they are not grammatically related to the rest of the sentence, and it will help you to get an even better understanding of the question, "What is an interjection?"
To diagram an interjection, you simply float it on a line hovering above the rest of the sentence.
Interjections sit on a line above the subject of the sentence, and they are not joined to any other part of the sentence.
That's a pretty good way of showing that they aren't related to any of the other words, isn't it?
