Grammar / Conjunctions 2

412

Conjunctions

There was a dry, pungent smell in the air, as though of dry vegetation, crisped by the sun.

He looked happy though somewhat tired.

Note. It should be pointed out that a number of conjunctions (a) have hom­ onyms among prepositions (b) and adverbs (c).

e.g. a) He had not heard himself called that name since his mother died.

b)Everything has gone wrong since that night.

c)He had his last meal in the restaurant car and hasn't had anything to eat since.

a)He found himself in his mother's arms before he saw her.

b)I talked to him before the conference.

c)I've never seen him so angry before.

a)They spoke little until they reached the less busy road.

b)He stayed up until dawn, reading and writing.

a)After he had taken all the things out, she started the car.

b)After lunch they all went to their rooms.

INTERJECTIONS

§1. Interjections are words expressing emotions, such as sur­ prise, anger, pleasure, regret, indignation, encouragement, tri­ umph, etc. They are used as exclamations.

§2. Some interjections are special words which are not associ­ ated with any other parts of speech, e.g. oh [ou], ah [a:], eh [ei], aha [a(:)'ha:], alas [Vla:s], fie [fai], humph [mm, hmf], hum [Ьлш],

phew [fju:], pshaw [Jo:], pooh [pu:], tush [Uf], bravo [Ъга:Уои], hur­ rah [hu'ra:], etc.

Some of these interjections serve to express quite definite feel­ ings. Thus alas is a cry of sorrow or anxiety; bravo is a cry of ap­ proval, meaning 'well done, excellent'; hurrah is a cry of express­ ing joy, welcome; fie, pooh and pshaw express contempt; aha expresses triumph.

Other interjections, according to the tone of the voice, may express emotions of different character, e.g. ah may show sorrow, surprise, pity, pleasure, etc.; oh is an exclamation of surprise, fear, pain, etc.; phew may express relief, astonishment or con­ tempt; eh — surprise or doubt; tush — contempt or impatience; humph — doubt, disbelief or dissatisfaction.

§ 3. There are a number of words which belong to different other parts of speech but which are also used as interjections, e.g.

Some of them, like interjections proper, serve to express quite definite feelings. For example, bother; oh, bother are exclamations of impatience; goodness gracious, goodness me are exclamations of surprise; damn, damn it all, damn you, confound you and hang it