Language Arts Grade Five

Unit Twelve, Lesson Four: Figurative Language

  1. bright
  2. sight
  3. fight
  4. light
  5. tight
  6. chew
  7. swallow
  8. diet
  9. hungry
  10. appetite
  1. desire
  2. nutrient
  3. vitamin
  4. prospect
  5. claim
  6. stomach
  7. intestine
  8. digestion
  9. abdomen
  10. invest
Figurative Language

People often use figurative language to express an idea in a more lively or interesting manner than would be the case if they just said exactly what they meant. For instance, instead of saying: 


	This meat is really greasy.
Someone could express this same idea by saying: 

	This meat is so greasy that it slides right off the plate.
Either way, the basic idea is that the meat is greasy. The second way of expressing this idea uses figurative language to express this idea.

Here is another example: 


  LITERAL: The fog was very thick.

  FIGURATIVE: The fog was like soup.
Both sentences convey the idea that the fog was thick. The first one uses literal language to state the idea and the second uses figurative language.

When using literal language, the speaker says exactly what is intended. With figurative language exaggerations or comparisons are made which aren't precisely accurate.

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