A figure of speech is language used in a non-literal way for effect — to paint a picture, stress a point or create music in a line. In the exam you are usually asked to identify the figure in a given sentence. The trick is to learn the one signal that gives each figure away.
हिन्दी: हर अलंकार की पहचान का एक "signal" होता है — वही याद कर लो, तो सेकंडों में जवाब मिल जाएगा।
| Figure | One-line test | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simile | Compares using like / as | She is as brave as a lion. |
| Metaphor | Direct comparison, no like/as | The classroom is a battlefield. |
| Personification | Human quality given to a non-human | The wind whispered through the trees. |
| Apostrophe | Address to absent person / abstract / dead | "O Death, where is thy sting?" |
| Metonymy | Name of one thing for a related thing | The Crown (= the monarchy) decided. |
| Synecdoche | A part stands for the whole (or vice-versa) | All hands (= sailors) on deck. |
| Figure | One-line test | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperbole | Deliberate exaggeration | I have told you a million times. |
| Litotes | Understatement via a double negative | She is not unkind (= quite kind). |
| Oxymoron | Two opposite words side by side | Sweet sorrow; deafening silence. |
| Paradox | A whole statement that seems self-contradictory yet true | "The child is father of the man." |
| Antithesis | Balanced opposite ideas in one sentence | "Man proposes, God disposes." |
| Irony | Says the opposite of what is meant | "What lovely weather!" (in a storm) |
| Euphemism | A mild word for a harsh idea | He passed away (= died). |
| Pun | Play on words / double meaning | A bicycle can't stand — it's two-tyred. |
← Back to all study notes · Notes by Dr Pankaj Tiwari, English Lecturer & Author.