Interjections and Conjunctions

Interjections  Interjections are words or phrases used to show emotion.

A forceful interjection can be followed by an exclamation mark.  Wow! That was easy!  Ouch! Get off my toe!  Holy cow! That’s a big beanstalk!

Caution!  Be careful when using exclamation marks. They lose their excitement if you use them after every sentence.

Other interjections can come before the sentence and are set off from the sentence with a comma.  Oh, I wish school was over.  No, you shouldn’t have done that.

Your turn: Interjection practice  Add an interjection to the beginning of each sentence then rewrite the sentence. Remember the 2 ways to punctuate.  1. I lost my wallet.  2. A nice boy found it and returned it to me.  3. All of my money was still inside.

Conjunctions are words that connect one part of a sentence to another.  And, but, or, yet, for, nor and so are all conjunctions (coordinate conjuctions)  A conjunction can combine several sentences. Ex: The boy walked. The boy ate ice cream. The boy talked to his friends. The boy walked, ate ice cream, and talked to his friends.

Commas and Conjunctions  If a conjunction is connecting more than 2 things (a series), you must use a comma between each item. Ex: I like cookies, cake, and ice cream.  If a conjunction is combining two complete sentences, then you must use a comma before the conjunction (compound sentence). Ex: The dog walked down the street, and the cat ran.

Your turn: Conjunction practice  Rewrite the following sentences inserting conjunctions and any necessary punctuation. Underline the conjunctions.  1. My mom is a Chiefs fan. My dad likes the Raiders. I don’t like football.  2. We had to study nouns for the test. We had to study pronouns for the test. We had to study verbs, too.