FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
• The term “figurative” language has traditionally referred to as language which differs from everyday, “non-
literary” usage. Figures were seen as stylistic ornaments with which writers dressed up their language to make it
more entertaining, and to clarify the meanings they wanted to convey.
FIGURES OF SPEECH
• SIMILE
-is a comparison of two unlike things or particulars with the use of as, like, or as if.
• Sentence examples:
1. Teacher Maria is as beautiful as a rose.
2. Procrastination is like a thief that steals time.
3. Life, like a firefly, lights up and dims out as it moves on.
From Poetry
O my love’s like a red, red rose.
How brilliant and mirthful the light of her eye,
Like a star glowing out from the blue of the sky.
From prose
The canyon lay waiting for them like a monster, its jaw ready to snap shut on them.
The doctors were working with their sleeves up to their shoulders and were red as butchers
The comparison of a man with another man, a house with another house, a flower with another flower, or anything with
another thing of the same class is NOT A FIGURE OF SPEECH. Hence, the following are not similes:
1. Nancy looks like her mother.
2. She behaves like a child.
3. She is as wise as a lawyer.
4. My teacher is as cranky as a spinster.
5. He got angry as if he were the boss.
• METAPHOR
-suggests a comparison of unlike things or particulars WITHOUT using like, as or as if.
Sentence Examples:
1. The ship was a tiger roaring in the water.
2. The teacher was an encyclopedia of information.
3. His birthday was a storm of happiness.
• ASSONANCE
-Is a form of poetic structure which focuses on the repetition of vowel sounds throughout the sentence or
phrase.
Kite and bike
Cake and bake
The pig in a wig did a jig.
The cat sat on a mat
Moths cough and drop wings.
I’ll make a cake for you to take.
• ALLITERATION
The repetition of the first consonant sounds in several words.
Examples:
• Wide-eyed and wondering while we wait for others to wake up
• Death, Drugs, and Duterte Dilemma
• Betty bought butter, but the butter was bitter So Betty bought better butter to make the bitter butter better
• Samantha saw seven silly soldiers selling strawberries on Sundays.
• PERSONIFICATION
-one that gives human characteristics and capabilities to things which are inanimate or to nonhumans.
• The Sun yawned through the trees.
• An idea spoke to him, racing through his mind.
• “The voice of thy brother’s blood,
crieth to me from the depths of the grave.”
• “My dog, Chichay, walks to the corner. I refused to give her a treat, so she sat down gloomily and counted the
minutes until her next meal.
• ONOMATOPOEIA
-Is a word that describes a natural sound or the sound made by an object or a certain action.
• “Beat! Beat! Drums-blow! Bugles! Blow!
• “Hear the Silver bells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy of the night.” (Edgar Allan Poe)
• “Tick-tock, tick-tock went the clock,
My time passes in its every knock
How I wanted it to stop, to tell it to shush,
But even my voice, goes out like a hush.”
• HYPERBOLE
-Is a statement so exaggerated it creates an impact and emphasis to a language.
• You snore louder than a freight train.
• She drank a million gallons of water after her Zumba class.
• I changed my baby’s diaper a thousand times today.
• The earthquake on July 16, 1990 pulverized a building in Cabanatuan City into mere debris.
I love this song. I could listen to this forever.
• EUPHEMISM
-Expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or
phrase it replaces.
• Passed away instead of died
• Correctional facility instead of jail
• Adult entertainment instead of pornography
• Wardrobe malfunction instead of exposure
• Pre-owned/ Pre-loved instead of used or second-hand
• Mentally-challenged instead of stupid/idiot
• Hearing-impaired instead of dumb
• Restroom instead of toilet
Sentences
• She was less- favoured by beauty.
• Tom’s driving ability has a plenty of room for improvement.
• They are now at their final rest.
• I am relieved.
• Someone borrowed my money without asking from my purse.
• That kid is mentally-challenged.
• IDIOMS
• Expressions whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of the words that make it up. Its meaning
is different from the dictionary definition.
• Examples:
• Apple of my eye- feeling affection for someone
• Bend over backwards- helping someone
• Clear the air- talk about a problem
• Don’t rock the boat- don’t cause problem
• Under the weather- ill or sick
• CLICHÉS
• Are statements that have been heard so often that their once colourful play on words has become expected and
stale.
• A rolling stone gathers no moss.
• Every cloud has a silver lining.
• Two heads are better than one.
• Busy as a bee
• Birds of the same feather flocks together.
• Don’t judge the book by its cover.
• History repeats itself.
• SYMBOLISM
Occurs when a word which has meaning in itself is used to represent something entirely different.
Examples:
The sea- life
Flower or butterfly- delicate and fragile beauty/ happiness
Rock- strength
Owl- wisdom
Apple- education
Serpent- temptation/ treachery
Dove- peace and freedom
