Figurative language -idiom examples for kids
There are many different forms of figurative language; in Key Stage 2 English your child is likely to be introduced to the following:
Simile
A simile is a comparison phrase which finds similar characteristics in two objects and compares them, always by using the words 'like' or 'as'. For example:
The pond was like a shiny, round coin.
He ran as fast as a high-speed train.
Metaphor
A metaphor is a comparison which is not literally true. It suggests what something is like by comparing it with something else with similar characteristics. It is like a simile, but instead of using 'like' or 'as' it compares by suggesting that somethig is something else. For example:
He was putty in her hands. (Meaning: he could be easily manipulated by her.)
You are the light of my life. (Meaning: you give me hope and happiness.)
Personification
Personification is a type of figurative language which gives an object human characteristics (emotions, sensations, speech, physical movements).For example:
The branches of the tree danced in the wind.
She was swallowed by the waves in an instant.
The warm sun smiled down on us.
Onomatopoeia
This is when a word makes the sound of the thing it describes (for example: boom, honk, pop, crack, cuckoo, crack, splat, tweet, zoom, sizzle, whizz, buzz, hiss, rip).
Hyperbole
This is when exaggeration is used for effect. For example:
I had to read a book that was about a million pages long.
The children were so excited they were bouncing off the walls.
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