Subtitles section Play video
-
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.