French interjection / exclamation

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2016-05-31

An interjection or exclamation is the utterance of a particular sound, word or phrase to express an emotion. In most languages, interjections are used in isolation, meaning that they have no grammatical relationship with surrounding words.

For example

• Hé !  - Hey!
• Oh !  - Oh!
• Aïe !  - Ouch!
• Beurk !  - Yuck!

Real words and expressions can also be used as interjections:

• Ça alors !  - Good grief! 
• Eh bien !  - Indeed!