Jul
9
2009
Spanish Interjection: ¡Ah!, ¡Eh!, ¡Ojalá!
Author: Johns SmithSpanish Interjecciones: ¡Ah!, ¡Eh!, ¡Ojalá!
Interjections: ¡Ah!, ¡Eh!, ¡God willing!
Pronunciation: Ah, Ayh, Ohhah-lah
Translation: That thing
Function: Interjection
Interjections in Spanish, as in English, are used to show surprise, disagreement, even pain. In general, you can use ‘Ojalá’ and all the vowels: ah, eh, i, oh, uh (although ‘i’ is not an official one, but is used to show disbelief, just the same as English ‘So?’)
Ojalá’ is pretty much used as ‘god willing’ is used in English, but it lacks the religious feeling of its English counterpart. The vowels are followed by an ‘h’ when written: ‘ah’, ‘eh’, ‘oh’ y ‘uh’; they show surprise, estrangement, shock and disbelief, respectively (if you want to sound Caribbean and show an interested surprise, say the one Bart Simpson uses: ¡Caramba!)
