Gerunds: The Basics Gerunds are words that are formed with verbs but act as nouns. They’re very easy to spot, since every gerund is a verb with ing tacked to its tail. There are no exceptions to this rule. Like all things grammar, gerunds do take a tiny bit of detective work to spot. The problem here is that present participles also end with the letters ing. Besides being able to spot gerunds, you should be able to tell the difference between a gerund and a present participle. Let’s go back to the definition of a gerund for a moment. Remember that gerunds are words that are formed with verbs but act as nouns. Present participles do not act as nouns. Instead, they act as modifiers or complete progressive verbs. To find gerunds in sentences, just look for a verb + ing that is used as a noun. It’s that simple. Examples of Gerunds As you read these examples of gerunds, notice the verbs they contain, and notice that every single one of them ends in ing. By the end of this quick lesson, y...
A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things in an interesting way. The object of a simile is to spark an interesting connection in a reader's or listener's mind. A simile is one of the most common forms of figurative language. Similes can be found just about anywhere from poems to song lyrics and even in everyday conversations. Similes and metaphors are often confused with one another. The main difference between a simile and metaphor is that a simile uses the words "like" or "as" to draw a comparison and a metaphor simply states the comparison without using "like" or "as". An example of a simile is: She is as innocent as an angel. An example of a metaphor is: She is an angel. Similes in Everyday Language Similes are used in literature to make writing more vivid and powerful. In everyday speech they can be used to convey meaning quickly and effectively, as many commonly used expressions are similes. For example, wh...
Repetition Definition of Repetition Repetition is a literary device that repeats the same words or phrases a few times to make an idea clearer and more memorable. There are several types of repetition commonly used in both prose and poetry. As a rhetorical device, it could be a word, a phrase, or a full sentence, or a poetical line repeated to emphasize its significance in the entire text. Repetition is not distinguished solely as a figure of speech, but more as a rhetorical device. Types of Repetition The following examples of repetition are classified according to the different types of repetition used, both in literature and in daily conversations. Anadiplosis: Repetition of the last word in a line or clause. Anaphora: Repetition of words at the start of clauses or verses. Antistasis: Repetition of words or phrases in opposite sense. Diacope: Repetition of words broken by some other words. Epanalepsis: Repetition of the same words at the beginning and the end of a sentence. Ep...
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