um....There's no strict rules especially these years with the rising of net-language (or should I say, Chinese leet talking? kidding...)
哦 é/ó/ò
"é" is not an interjection
"ó" : indicate suspicion/doubt/query, mostly as replying to a statement or a question. 哦？
"ò" : usually in a soft, gentle falling tone. it can be used to express approval/(sudden) understanding/surprise or whatever.
Actually there's a lot of "informal" uses of "o" that are not listed in dictionaries but for now I'll leave them there.....
喔 ō/ò/wō
"ō" not very often used. express understanding -- personally I think it has some excitement factors involved, but I'm no linguist....
"ò" it's the same as "哦(ò)", but personally I think it reads louder and sometimes is used to express an appalling feeling.
"wō" this is the "cuckoo-doodle-do" in Chinese. "喔喔喔" sometimes with "——" in them. And you can pronouce them either "wō" or "ō" -- no strict rules!
"喔" is also often used as "ouch", as well as "噢", while "哦" seems less popular in this sense.
my dictionary says "噢" is the same as "喔(ō)" but personally I find it a more exciting/stressing form of "哦(ò)". Again there is no strict rules.
嚄 huō/huò/ŏ
"huō/huò" : indicates excitement/surprise/appallment
I think "嚯" has the same use
"ŏ" : same meaning. Actually people use "哦/噢/喔" for all the "o"s and I don't think most people know this!
迲 qù: I don't think it's popular anymore. We simply use "去" to express the same feeling :"nonsense!" "off you go!", or to scorn/disdain/ignore the opponent.
also there are "qiè" and "què"s that can be used in same way. There are no set characters so most often we use the character "切".
There are so many others....like 咄(duō)! (hey, it can even function like "duh!/d'oh!"), 哈(hà, which is generally the same thing as "ha"), not to mention all those "a"s.....
I won't expect a "complete list" to be honest....
哦 é/ó/ò
"é" is not an interjection
"ó" : indicate suspicion/doubt/query, mostly as replying to a statement or a question. 哦？
"ò" : usually in a soft, gentle falling tone. it can be used to express approval/(sudden) understanding/surprise or whatever.
Actually there's a lot of "informal" uses of "o" that are not listed in dictionaries but for now I'll leave them there.....
喔 ō/ò/wō
"ō" not very often used. express understanding -- personally I think it has some excitement factors involved, but I'm no linguist....
"ò" it's the same as "哦(ò)", but personally I think it reads louder and sometimes is used to express an appalling feeling.
"wō" this is the "cuckoo-doodle-do" in Chinese. "喔喔喔" sometimes with "——" in them. And you can pronouce them either "wō" or "ō" -- no strict rules!
"喔" is also often used as "ouch", as well as "噢", while "哦" seems less popular in this sense.
my dictionary says "噢" is the same as "喔(ō)" but personally I find it a more exciting/stressing form of "哦(ò)". Again there is no strict rules.
嚄 huō/huò/ŏ
"huō/huò" : indicates excitement/surprise/appallment
I think "嚯" has the same use
"ŏ" : same meaning. Actually people use "哦/噢/喔" for all the "o"s and I don't think most people know this!
迲 qù: I don't think it's popular anymore. We simply use "去" to express the same feeling :"nonsense!" "off you go!", or to scorn/disdain/ignore the opponent.
also there are "qiè" and "què"s that can be used in same way. There are no set characters so most often we use the character "切".
There are so many others....like 咄(duō)! (hey, it can even function like "duh!/d'oh!"), 哈(hà, which is generally the same thing as "ha"), not to mention all those "a"s.....
I won't expect a "complete list" to be honest....
Wow, thank you for that great explanation fall_ark...So it seems that 哦 functions in all of the ways that "oh" does in English...amazing how similar two completely different languages can be 
.
By the way, and hopefully this won't be too off-topic, but what kinds of alternatives are there for those talking online？
. By the way, and hopefully this won't be too off-topic, but what kinds of alternatives are there for those talking online？
Hi cheshire,
They can both be replaced by "了"(le), maybe "咯/啰/喽"(lo/luo/lou) as well but they are not as popular or widely accepted. "了" sounds a little neutral or indifferent though.
"了" can also be used as a filler word here....but that's another story.
Thanks for the advice!
But as I understand it, the one who is being uttered this sentence in the second sentence of mine has not yet done shopping but probably is being headed for shopping now. Can we still use 了 in that sentence? I worry that using 了 in that sentence might mean "You have already gone shopping?"
But as I understand it, the one who is being uttered this sentence in the second sentence of mine has not yet done shopping but probably is being headed for shopping now. Can we still use 了 in that sentence? I worry that using 了 in that sentence might mean "You have already gone shopping?"
Yes, that would be the case more often than not, but as you can see, there are no strict rules about "了" as it's used in so many ways.
I assure you that you could ask someone who's heading out the door with "买东西去了？" and they'll know what you mean -- as long as they didn't just come in door with a handful of packets!
迲!!!
I've never seen that character anywhere before, and it's not in my dictionary!
I've never seen that character anywhere before, and it's not in my dictionary!
Thanks fall_ark! I learned here that 了 can be used not just for describing "a new situation" but also "a decision made."
I had learned that 了 is used to refer to what *happens* as a new situation, but it seems also like to be used to refer to for example, "a decision as opposed to the state in which one hasn't made up his mind about shopping" as with the sentence "You've decided to go shopping." I'm sorry if I don't make sense.
I had learned that 了 is used to refer to what *happens* as a new situation, but it seems also like to be used to refer to for example, "a decision as opposed to the state in which one hasn't made up his mind about shopping" as with the sentence "You've decided to go shopping." I'm sorry if I don't make sense.
I only use the first one - 哦.
And it'd be better to forget the rest if you're not going to be a professional Chinese writer.
The other interjections I use more often are 阿，呵，啊。
And it'd be better to forget the rest if you're not going to be a professional Chinese writer.
The other interjections I use more often are 阿，呵，啊。
叹词 （interjeccion ， exclamation）
哎哟哟 （a，yo，yo） 表： 焦急jiaoji （anxious and restless）
啊 （a）表： 惊讶jingya （surprised）
例：
哎哟哟！不要踩我的鱼啊！
a-yo-yo! don't step on my fish a!
不要踩我的鱼，是这样子翻译的吗？
唉: = 表：叹息tanxi （heave a sigh）
啊呀 and 哎呀 = 惊讶 jingya （surprised）
嗳，喔唷o，yo，= 呻吟 shenyin （groan，moan）
例： ai，o-yo，o-yo， that hurt！。 嗳，喔唷，喔唷，好疼啊！
sometime 叹词 （interjeccion，exclamation） put
句首jushou， head sentence
句子中间juzi zhongjian， intermedio sentence
句末jumo， final sentence。
哎哟= 喔唷
哎 = 欸 （ai，ei）
哦=噢=喔
哎哟哟 （a，yo，yo） 表： 焦急jiaoji （anxious and restless）
啊 （a）表： 惊讶jingya （surprised）
例：
哎哟哟！不要踩我的鱼啊！
a-yo-yo! don't step on my fish a!
不要踩我的鱼，是这样子翻译的吗？
唉: = 表：叹息tanxi （heave a sigh）
啊呀 and 哎呀 = 惊讶 jingya （surprised）
嗳，喔唷o，yo，= 呻吟 shenyin （groan，moan）
例： ai，o-yo，o-yo， that hurt！。 嗳，喔唷，喔唷，好疼啊！
sometime 叹词 （interjeccion，exclamation） put
句首jushou， head sentence
句子中间juzi zhongjian， intermedio sentence
句末jumo， final sentence。
哎哟= 喔唷
哎 = 欸 （ai，ei）
哦=噢=喔