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  • 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.

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

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