What Are Examples of Figurative Language?

Figurative language is language that does not have a literal meaning. It is used by the writer for the sake of comparison or dramatic effect. This can make figurative language a challenging concept for our students to get their heads around! (And there’s an example of an idiom right there!)

Display this set of educational posters in your classroom when exploring the wonderful world of figurative language with your students. It explains some of the more common forms of figurative language in student-friendly terms and provides a variety of examples for each type. The figurative language examples explored in this poster set are:

• Similes: Uses the words ‘like’ or ‘as’ to compare one object or idea with another to suggest they are alike.
• Metaphors: A figure of speech comparing two unrelated things by saying one thing actually IS the other.
• Idioms: A commonly used expression whose meaning does not relate to its literal meaning.
• Personification: The act of giving human qualities and attributes to nonhuman things.
• Onomatopoeia: A word that mimics the sound of the object or action it refers to.
• Alliteration: The repetition of the same or similar sounds at the beginning of words or stressed syllables.
• Hyperbole: The use of exaggeration to make something seem better or worse than it is.
• Oxymoron: A combination of two contradictory terms.

How to Make the Most of This Figurative Language Classroom Display

These posters have been created to support literacy instruction in your classroom. You may wish to use them in the following ways:

1. Print the posters on A3 paper and display them in your classroom as a reminder of the various types of figurative language.
2. As you teach figurative language, provide students with a smaller version of the posters to paste into their workbooks.
3. Use the resource as a word wall display by adding examples of each type of figurative language around the posters.

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