Top 20 Figures of Speech

A figure of speech is a rhetorical device that achieves a special effect by using words in distinctive ways.

The Top 20 Figures

1. Alliteration
   The repetition of an initial consonant sound.



2. Anaphora
   The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses. (Contrast with epiphora and epistrophe.)



3. Antithesis
   The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas in balanced phrases.



4. Apostrophe
   Breaking off discourse to address some absent person or thing, some abstract quality, an inanimate object, or a nonexistent character.



5. Assonance
   Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.



6. Chiasmus
   A verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with the parts reversed.



7. Euphemism
   The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.



8. Hyperbole
   An extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or heightened effect.



9. Irony
   The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.



10. Litotes
    A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by negating its opposite.



11. Metaphor
    An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in common.



12. Metonymy
    A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things around it.



13. Onomatopoeia
    The use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.



14. Oxymoron
    A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.



15. Paradox
    A statement that appears to contradict itself.



16. Personification
    A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or abilities.



17. Pun
    A play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar sense or sound of different words.



18. Simile
    A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar things that have certain qualities in common.



19. Synecdoche
    A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABCs foralphabet) or the whole for a part ("England won the World Cup in 1966").



20. Understatement
    A figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less important or serious than it is.

The Present Perfect: Using "Has" and "Have" With the Past Participle

Once you understand how to form the past tense of regular verbs, you shouldn't find it difficult to use verbs in the present-perfect. All you'll need to add is an auxiliary verb (also known as a helping verb)--has or have.

Coupled with the auxiliary verb has or have, a past participle can serve as the main verb in a sentence. Compare these two sentences:

• Carla worked here for five years.
• Carla has worked here for five years.

The first sentence is in the past tense: Carla once worked here but no longer does. The second sentence carries a different meaning: Carla still works here.

We use has or have with a past participle to describe an action that started in the past and is (or may be) still going on. This construction is called the present-perfect.

The past participle form of a regular verb is identical to the past form: it always ends in -ed:

• Olga has promised to help me.
• Max and Olga have finished the race.
• We have tried to do our best.

The auxiliary verb--has or have--changes to agree with its subject (see Correcting Errors in Subject-Verb Agreement), but the past participle itself does not change:

• Carla has worked here for five years.
• Carla and Fred have worked here for five years.

Use the past tense to show a completed action. Use the present-perfect (has or have plus the past participle) to show an action begun in the past but continuing up to the present.

EXERCISE: Forming the Past Tense and the Present-Perfect

Complete the second sentence in each set with the correct form of the verb in parentheses. Use either the past tense or the present-perfect tense (has or have plus the past participle). The first sentence in each pair will help you decide which tense is needed in the second sentence. When you're done, compare your responses with the answers on page two.

1. Mr. Baggins lives in the house next door. He (live) there for the past eight years.


2. We are still raising money for the scholarship drive. So far we (raise) over $2,000.


3. I have gained five pounds since I started my diet. At the same time, I (gain) a craving for Milky Way bars.


4. I watched the Jon Stewart show last night. Then I (watch) David Letterman's program.


5. I have called you several times this week. You (call) me once last spring.


6. Jenny frequently uses the new word processor. Kyle not (use*) it once.


7. Several years ago I stayed two weeks on a farm. I (stay) in the city ever since.


8. Addie shouted in my ear. I turned and (shout) right back.


9. Lu ordered one book from the club last year. He not (order*) anything since.


10. I have never tried to raise chickens. Once I (try) to raise hogs.

* The negatives not and never often go between the auxiliary verb and the past participle in the present-perfect tense.

Here are the answers to the exercise 

1. has lived
2. have raised
3. have gained
4. watched
5. called
6. has not used
7. have stayed
8. shouted
9. has not ordered
10. tried

Sentence Structure

Subject and Verb Agreement

The verbs you use must always agree with the subject to which they correspond. For example:

He goes to the store every Tuesday.

They go to the store every Tuesday.

Note how the form of the verb changes to match the pronoun. Of course, not all of your subjects will be pronouns. Often, you will start sentences using regular or proper nouns:

Sam goes to the store every Tuesday.

Sam and Bill go to the store every Tuesday.

Two singular subjects, when acting together, will take a plural verb. Make sure that your sentence construction uses the proper agreements.

Verb Tense Agreement

There are three basic tenses in the English language: the past, the present, and the future. In most writing, you will use the past tense, especially when you are describing events that have already occurred.

The past tense has further divisions, too. You can talk about events that occurred in the past, and you can also talk about events that occurred before those events. You have to be careful to make sure that you are using these tenses properly, or mass confusion could result. Even if confusion doesn't arise, improperly constructed sentences can still look silly; this also makes the reader wonder if the author knows what he or she is talking about, so if you're not careful, you could risk losing credibility in your writing.

Verb tense agreement can be hard to get used to at first, but it's really not that difficult. Consider the following example:

Mandy walked into the bathroom, picked up the towel, and began to dry her hair. When she was done, she put the towel back where it was.

Wasn't the towel just in her hair? Where, exactly, would Mandy be putting the towel, then? In the first sentence, all of the verbs are in the immediate past tense. In the second sentence, the verbs are still in the immediate past. When it comes to where the towel was, however, the verb is referring to where the towel was before the other events took place. Therefore, a slightly different tense is needed:

Mandy walked into the bathroom, picked up the towel, and began to dry her hair. When she was done, she put the towel back where it had been.

Now the verbs clearly show that Mandy put the towel back in the place it had been before she picked it up. When compared to the other example, it is much clearer (not to mention grammatically correct). Pay careful attention to your verb tenses to make sure that your writing refers to the correct time period.

Run-On Sentences

Some people just fall into the habit of making their sentences run on too long, so that you end up with really long sentences, and with other clauses tacked onto the end without any bit of a break, making up one of the longest sentences you could ever hope to find, no matter how hard you look, and you end up going on forever before you ever come across a period, and even then it seems almost like an afterthought.

See, then, how bad a run-on sentence can be? As a general rule of thumb, a sentence should only have one point. Sometimes you can add on another point as a sub-clause, but if it gets any more complicated than that you should consider breaking it up into much smaller bits.

Sentence Length

You should always try to vary the length of your sentences. Intersperse them. Don't use a lot of short sentences unless you're trying to establish a scenic objective, such as suspense. Or immediacy. You're much better off staggering the sentences so that you have longer ones broken up by shorter ones. This creates variety and keeps things interesting for the reader.

Readership Level

No matter what you write, you should always keep your readership level in mind. If you're writing for a group of children, you'll want to use simple concepts and simple language to convey your meaning. Historical references must often be explained for them to have meaning and establish the context you intend. If you're writing for a group of academics, your language will be aimed differently. But unless you have an idea of who your readership will be, you should err on the side of caution and assume a readership level of about seventh to tenth grade.

Some dictionaries contain listings that show “spelling” words for each grade level. However, academic standards change. Check with your local school office for suggestions on where you can obtain such grade-level lists and use them to compare the words used in your writing against those suggested for your intended audience. If you're already working with a children's book publisher, check with your editor or consult the publisher's writing guidelines for suggestions.

A good rule of thumb is just to keep all of your writing as simple as possible. That way, it can be understood by a reader of almost any level. You may not want to write for a grade-school level, but aiming for a high-school crowd is completely acceptable in most circles. Of course, sometimes a higher level of diction is called for, such as with an academic crowd. The trick is to figure out who your audience is and then aim appropriately.

One of the magic things about the English language is that there are so many ways to say things. You can convey information in a very formal manner, or in a number of degrees of informal ones.

Newswriting: Keep it Short And To The Point

You've probably heard an editor say that when it comes to newswriting, keep it short, sweet and to the point. Some editors call this "writing tight." It means conveying as much information as possible in as few words as possible.

It sounds easy, but if you've spent years writing research papers - where the emphasis is often on being longwinded - it can be quite difficult.

Why Write Tight?

Several reasons. First, readers typically are short on time. They want to be able to quickly scan a news article to get the information they need. So the shorter, the better.

Second, after making room for things like ads, headlines and photos, the amount of space available for actual news in the newspaper is limited. This finite space is called the "newshole." Naturally, editors like to fit as much news as possible in the newshole, so again, the shorter each story is, the better.

So how can you learn to write tight?

Find Your Focus

Before you've written a single word of your article, stop for a moment and think: What is this story about? What's the main point? Decide what the main point is, then stick to that point from start to finish. Anything that doesn't relate to that point should be left out.

Sentences: Avoid Too Many Clauses

A clause is simply a section of a sentence that's separated by a comma. The following sentence has four clauses:

Officer Joan Lanton, who was at the scene of the murder, which occurred on Elm Street, described the scene as grisly and said two suspects are being sought.

Generally speaking, sentences in news stories should have as few clauses as possible. If you find yourself writing a sentence with more than one or two commas, chances are you need to put a period after one of the clauses and start a new sentence.

Here's that same sentence from above, this time broken up:

Officer Joan Lanton was at the scene of the murder, which occurred on Elm Street. She described the scene as grisly and said two suspects are being sought.

Just One or Two Ideas Per Sentence

Sentences also get too long when you try to cram too many ideas into them. Look at this example:

The president, who was suffering from a cold, which he caught last week in Norway, signed the treaty, which he had originally opposed, because he said the changes that had been made were sound.

This sentence is stuffed with four or five ideas. The result is a confusing mess. Better to do it this way:

The president had originally opposed the treaty. But he signed it anyway, saying the changes that had been made were sound. At the ceremony he was suffering from a cold that he caught last week in Norway.

Paragraphs: One Or Two Sentences Each

In addition to short sentences, editors like news stories to have short paragraphs. How short? Generally no more than 2-3 sentences each.

Short paragraphs are easier for readers to follow on the page. And stories with short paragraphs are easier for editors on tight deadlines to cut if needed.

Edit Yourself

Sure, it's your job to write the story and the editor's job to edit it, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't edit yourself first. As you write, be on the lookout for excess words that can be cut. When you're done, read your story out loud and listen for longwinded sentences. Any sentence that can't be easily read in a single breath should usually be trimmed.

Complex Sentence - from Simple Sentence to Complex Sentence

Complex sentences refer to sentences that have more than one subject and one verb. Complex sentences are connected by conjunctions and other types of linking words. Other complex sentences are written with relative pronouns, as well as other sentences using more than one clause. This exercise starts off easy by using two simple sentences and using aconjunction to connect the two sentences to make one complex sentence.

Combing simple sentences to make complex sentences is an important exercise to help you advance in your writing abilities. This writing exercise focuses on taking simple sentences and transforming them into complex sentences which are then combined into a paragraph.

Simple Sentence -> Complex Sentence

Example: Tom is a boy. He is eight years old. He goes to school in Philadelphia.

Complex Sentence: -> Tom is an eight-year old boy who goes to school in Philadelphia.

Here are some simple rules to remember when combining simple sentences into complex sentences:

• Don't repeat words
• Change words if necessary
• Add words to connect ideas

Complex Sentence Exercise

Combine the following sentences into complex sentences. Remember that a number of answers may be correct. Click on the following page to compare your answers following page to compare your answers with two possible paragraphs.

• His name is Peter.
  He's a famous professional athlete.
  He's a baseball player.
  He has a large house in Miami.
  The house is beautiful.
  He often travels around the US.
  He plays away games in different cities in the US.
  He travels by airplane.
  He usually sleeps on the plane.
  He stays up late after games.
  He is an excellent pitcher.
  Fans love his abilities.
  Coaches love his abilities.
  Every week he plays a home game.
  The game is played in Glover Stadium.
  The game is usually sold out.
  Glover Stadium is old.
  Glover Stadium doesn't have enough seats for all the fans.
  The fans wait in line to buy tickets.
  The fans often pay more than $60 dollars for a ticket.
  The fans are unhappy about the ticket prices.
  The fans love Peter.

Here are two possible paragraph answers to this exercise. Compare your answer with these examples. Remember that there is more than one possible correct answer for each sentence.

Complex Sentence - Possible Paragraph 1

Peter is a famous baseball player. He lives in a beautiful house in Miami. He often flies around the United States to play away games. Both fans and coaches love his excellent pitching abilities. Every week he plays home games in Glover Stadium which is usually sold out. Glover Stadium is an old stadium without enough seats for all the fans. Fans wait in line to buy the tickets which often cost more than $60. Even though the fans are unhappy about ticket prices, they love Peter.

Complex Sentence - Possible Paragraph 2

Peter is a famous baseball player who lives in a beautiful house in Miami. He often flies to different cities around the United States to play away games. His excellent pitching is loved by both fans and coaches. Old Glover Stadium doesn't have enough seats for the fans who want to come to home games. Even though they are unhappy about ticket prices, the wait in line and pay more than $60 to see Peter play.

Sentence Type Basics for English Learners

Writing in English begins with the sentence. Sentences are then combined into larger structures such as essays, business reports, etc. There are four sentence types in English. The first sentence type is the most common:

Declarative

A declarative sentence "declares" or states a fact, arrangement or opinion. Declarative sentences can be either positive or negative. A declarative sentences ends with a period (.).

Examples

I'll meet you at the train station.
The sun rises in the East.
He doesn't get up early.

Imperative

The imperative form instructs (or sometimes requests). The imperative takes no subject as 'you' is the implied subject. The imperative form ends with either a period (.) or an exclamation point (!).

Examples

Open the door.
Finish your homework
Pick up that mess.

Interrogative

The interrogative asks a question. In the interrogative form the auxiliary verb precedes the subject which is then followed by the main verb (i.e., Are you coming ....?). The interrogative form ends with a question mark (?).

Examples

How long have you lived in France?
When does the bus leave?
Do you enjoy listening to classical music?

Exclamatory

The exclamatory form emphasizes a statement (either declarative or imperative) with an exclamation point (!).

Examples

Hurry up!
That sounds fantastic!
I can't believe you said that!

Sentence Types

All of these sentence types further fall into four basic sentence type categories in English.

• Simple
• Compound
• Complex
• Compound - Complex

Simple Sentences

Simple sentences contain no conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).

Examples

Frank ate his dinner quickly.
Peter and Sue visited the museum last Saturday.
Are you coming to the party?

Compound Sentences

Compound sentences contain two statements that are connected by a conjunction (i.e., and, but, or, etc.).

Examples

I wanted to come, but it was late.
The company had an excellent year, so they gave everyone a bonus.
I went shopping, and my wife went to her classes.

Complex Sentences

Complex sentences contain a dependent clause and at least one independent clause. The two clauses are connected by a subordinator (i.e, which, who, although, despite, if, since, etc.).

Examples

My daughter, who was late for class, arrived shortly after the bell rang.
That's the man who bought our house
Although it was difficult, the class passed the test with excellent marks.

Compound - Complex Sentences

Compound - complex sentences contain at least one dependent clause and more than one independent clause. The clauses are connected by both conjunctions (i.e., but, so, and, etc.) and subordinators (i.e., who, because, although, etc.)

Examples

John, who briefly visited last month, won the prize, and he took a short vacation.
Jack forgot his friend's birthday, so he sent him a card when he finally remembered.
The report which Tom complied was presented to the board, but it was rejected because it was too complex.

Compound Sentences

There are three types of sentences in English: Simple, compound and complex sentences. 

Compound Sentences - What are They?

Compound sentences are made up of two simple sentences connected by a coordinating conjunction. These conjunctions are also known as FANBOYS:

F - For
A - And
N - Nor
B - But
O - Or
Y - Yet
S - So

Here are some example compound sentences:

Tom arrived home. Then, he ate dinner. -> Tom arrived home, and ate dinner.
We studied many hours for the test. We didn't pass the test. -> We studied many hours for the test, but we didn't pass it.
Peter doesn't need to buy a new car. He also doesn't need to go on vacation. -> Peter doesn't need to buy a new car, nor does he need to go on vacation.

Conjunction Use in Compound Sentences

Conjunctions are used for different purposes in sentences. A comma is always placed before the conjunction. Here are the main uses of the FANBOYS:

Addition / Next Action

and

addition -> Tom enjoys playing tennis, and he likes cooking.
next action -> We drove home, and we went to bed.

Opposition - Unexpected Results

but / yet

We wanted to visit our friends, but we didn't have enough money to get a flight.
Janet did very well on her job interview, yet she didn't get the position.

Cause / Effect

for / so

cause -> Mary needed some new clothing, so she went shopping.
effect -> They stayed home for the holiday, for they had to work.

Choice Between Two

or

We thought we might go to see a film, or we might have dinner out.
Angela said she might buy him a watch, or she might give him a gift certificate.

Not One nor the Other

nor

We won't be able to visit our friends, nor will they be able to visit us this summer.
Sharon isn't going to the conference, nor is she going to present there.

NOTE: Notice how when using 'nor' the sentence structure is inverted. In other words, after 'nor' place the helping verb before the subject.

Compound Sentence Worksheet

Use FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to write one compound sentence using the two simple sentences.

• Peter drove to visit his friend. They went out for dinner.
• Mary thinks she should go to school. She wants to get qualifications for a new profession.
• Alan invested a lot of money in the business. The business went bankrupt.
• Doug didn't understand the homework assignment. He asked the teacher for help.
• The students didn't prepare for the test. They didn't realize how important the test was.
• Susan thinks she should stay home and relax. She also thinks she should go on vacation.
• The doctors looked at the x-rays. They decided to operate on the patient.
• We went out on the town. We came home late.
• Jack flew to London to visit his Uncle. He also wanted to visit the National Museum.
• It is raining. It is very cold.
• Henry studied very hard for the test. He passed with high marks.
• I would like to play tennis today. If I don't play tennis, I would like to play golf.
• We needed some food for the week. We went to the supermarket.
• Tom asked his teacher for help. He also asked his parents for help.
• Janet doesn't like sushi. She doesn't like any kind of fish.

ANSWERS

• Peter drove to visit his friend, and they went out for dinner.
• Mary thinks she should go to school, for she wants to get qualifications for a new profession.
• Alan invested a lot of money in the business, but the business went bankrupt.
• Doug didn't understand the homework assignment, so he asked the teacher for help.
• The students didn't prepare for the test, nor did they realize how important the test was.
• Susan thinks she should stay home and relax, or she should go on vacation.
• The doctors looked at the x-rays, so they decided to operate on the patient.
• We went out on the town, and we came home late.
• Jack flew to London to visit his Uncle, and to visit the National Museum.
• It is sunny, but it is very cold.
• Henry studied very hard for the test, so passed with high marks.
• I would like to play tennis today, or I would like to play golf.
• We needed some food for the week, so We went to the supermarket.
• Tom asked his teacher for help, and he asked his parents.
• Janet doesn't like sushi, nor does she like any kind of fish.