Figures of Speech II English Grammar II Brain Tech Tutorial

Figures of Speech in English Grammar

Definition of Figures of Speech (noun/plural):

Figure of Speech (noun/singular) is a word or expression used not with its original meaning but in an imaginative way to make a special effect.

Examples: 

Figures of speech are words or phrases with a meaning different from the literal one, used to make writing more effective or impactful, with common examples including Simile (comparing with 'like'/'as': brave as a lion), Metaphor (direct comparison: life is a rollercoaster), Personification (human traits to non-humans: the wind whispered), Hyperbole (exaggeration: I've told you a million times), Alliteration (repeated sounds: Peter Piper picked), and Onomatopoeia (sound words: buzz, hiss). [1, 2]

Here are some popular examples:

Comparison & Resemblance

• Simile: Compares two unlike things using "like" or "as."
• Example: "Her smile was as bright as the sun."
• Metaphor: A direct comparison stating one thing is another.
• Example: "The world is a stage."
• Personification: Giving human qualities to inanimate objects or animals.
• Example: "The flowers danced in the breeze." [1, 3, 4, 5]

Exaggeration & Understatement

• Hyperbole: Extreme exaggeration for emphasis or effect.
• Example: "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."
• Litotes: Deliberate understatement using a double negative.
• Example: "Not bad" (meaning very good). [3, 4, 6, 7]

Sound & Wordplay

• Alliteration: Repetition of initial consonant sounds.
• Example: "She sells seashells by the seashore."
• Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate sounds.
• Example: "The bees buzzed around the hive."
• Pun: A joke exploiting different meanings of a word.
• Example: "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana." [1, 2, 5, 8]

Contrast & Contradiction

• Oxymoron: Combines contradictory words.
• Example: "Jumbo shrimp" or "deafening silence."
• Irony: Saying the opposite of what's meant, or a situation with opposite results.
• Example: A fire station burning down. [2, 3, 5, 6]

Substitution

• Metonymy: Replacing a word with something closely associated with it.
• Example: "The White House announced..." (meaning the President/staff).
• Synecdoche: Using a part to represent the whole.
• Example: "All hands on deck" (hands meaning sailors). [2, 5, 6, 9]

AI responses may include mistakes.

[1] https://byjus.com/english/figures-of-speech/

[2] https://testbook.com/speech-for-students/figures-of-speech

[3] https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-a-figure-of-speech.html

[4] https://www.curiousjr.com/blogs/figures-of-speech

[5] https://www.quora.com/What-is-a-figure-of-speech-What-are-some-examples

[6] https://www.grammarly.com/blog/literary-devices/figure-of-speech/

[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt4J1HncVAw

[8] https://www.planetspark.in/storytelling/27-figure-of-speech

[9] https://prezentium.com/figures-of-speech-examples/

List of Fighters of Speech