English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
FIGURATIVE AND LITERAL LANGUAGE
Literal Language
When something is literal, it means that the words and the meaning are one and the same.
There is no subtext. When using words literally, the words say what they mean and mean what
they say.
Example
Be home by 8.
OR
The house is painted red.
Literal language is most often factual. It is considered to be less emotive and is representative
of the denotation.
People often say that something is “literally happening”, when what they are actually doing is
using the word ‘literally’ to exaggerate something.
Example

I was literally dying of heat.

She was literally swallowed by the floor when she tripped. She was so embarrassed.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
If the two examples above really were literal, the person in the first sentence would have died
and the person in the second example would have been sucked into the floor beneath their
feet.
Beware the figurative use of the word ‘literal’, as it can be incorrect, confusing and
misleading.
Figurative Language
As you have learnt in previous years, Figures of Speech are tools that liven up our language
and make it more powerful and memorable. They have more depth and often include ‘mental
pictures’ (that’s a figure of speech, in case you did not notice!). These mental pictures allow
us to make connections between unlike things. The images they create speak to that part of our
brain that ‘sees’ things and allow us to clearly see what is meant. All figures of speech have a
message that is waiting to be decoded.
Figures of Speech as Comparisons
Similes, metaphors and personifications are figures of speech that are used to compare two
things.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
A simile is a direct comparison, using ‘as’, ‘like’ or ‘than’ to compare.
For example
He exploded like a volcano.
A metaphor is a statement used as an indirect comparison.
For example
He is a volcano, about to explode.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
Personification is a type of metaphor, where an indirect comparison is made, but where a
non-human object is given human characteristics.
For example
The volcano puffed out great clouds of smoke from his nostrils.
For more information on Figures of Speech - Comparisons, click on the link below:
https://mycyberwall.co.za/get-smart/english/grade-6/figures-speech-comparisons
Figures of Speech as Sound Devices
Sound devices are figures of speech that are used to create a musical effect or to expand on the
meaning of the words used. They depend on the sound made by the letters and words to create
an effect.
Onomatopoeia is a sound device using a word that sounds like the thing it is describing. It
echoes the real-life sound. The meaning of the word is the sound it tries to re-create.
For example
The clock went tick tock.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
Alliteration is the use of repeated consonant sounds at the beginnings of words to create an
effect. It is often used to give the feeling of movement or sound and adds to the rhythm of the
text. It is often used in poems, the lyrics of songs, advertising and the media.
For example
She sells seashells on the seashore.
Assonance is a type of vowel rhyme often used in poetry and in the lyrics of songs. It is the
repetition of similar vowel sounds in nearby words in a sentence.
For example
Fire at the private eye hired to pry in my business.
Eminem – ‘Criminal’
Consonance is similar to assonance, as it also looks at repeated consonant sounds, but these
are sounds repeated in the middle or end of words (as opposed to alliteration where the
consonants appear at the beginning of words) in a sentence.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
For example
Dawn goes down with a frown.
The fun poem below by Dr. Seuss below shows how sound devices can be used with great
effect.
For example
West Beast East Beast by Dr. Seuss
Upon an island hard to reach,
The East Beast sits upon his beach.
Upon the west beach sits the West Beast.
Each beach beast thinks he's the best beast.
Which beast is best? ...Well, I thought at first,
That the East was best and the West was worst.
Then I looked again from the west to the east
And I liked the beast on the east beach least.
For more information on Figures of Speech - Comparisons, click on the link below:
https://mycyberwall.co.za/get-smart/english/grade-6/figures-speech-sound-devices
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
Figures of Speech as Contradictions and Exaggerations
Both exaggerations and contradictions can be used in a figurative way to convey a message.
Exaggerations are phrases and words that are used to overstate the real situation,
for example, hyperbole, as well as understatement.
For example
She cooked enough to feed an army – hyperbole.
He was a little bit stressed during his exams – understatement.
A contradiction is a figure of speech that makes statements that contradict each other, for
example, an oxymoron, or irony.
For example
half full
– oxymoron
For example
Marriage is the leading cause of divorce.
– irony
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
A pun can also be used as a figure of speech.
For example
A horse is a very stable animal.
For more information on Figures of Speech – Contradictions and Exaggerations, click on
the link below:
https://mycyberwall.co.za/get-smart/english/grade-6/figures-speech-contradictionsexaggeration
Parts of speech are the individual words and the jobs they do, for example, ‘tree’ is a noun.
Nouns, verbs and adjectives are parts of speech. Each word is like a piece of a puzzle. On its
own it might not have much meaning, but when combined with other words, it can help to
create a whole picture.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
Remember always that depending on where a word is used, it may be able to be more than one
part of speech:
Example
The dance was beautiful. – common noun
I dance with energy. – present tense verb
Dance is my life. – abstract noun
She is my dance partner. – adjective
‘Each word is like a puzzle piece’ is a group of words combined together to create a mental
picture, a figure of speech. It is a metaphor.
Humans think in pictures, not words. All of us automatically ‘see’ in our mind’s eye (another
figure of speech) the piece of a puzzle when it is described to us and we see it fitting into a
puzzle to create a whole picture.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
When we are working with figurative language, we are always dealing with a connotation.
This is the feeling or idea that is created. It has meaning and significance for the person
reading or hearing it and adds meaning that is not always literal.
In figurative language, there is always an element of trying to influence people to get them to
see something from a specific point of view, in other words, to persuade. We call these ‘tricks’
of conveying meaning, rhetorical devices. When we use figurative language, we are always
trying to use what people already know, to create meaning in another situation.
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
CHECKLIST
Module:
Figurative and Literal Language
Name of Learner:
Grade:
Date:
Show off your knowledge by explaining figurative and
literal language in the table below and hand this assessment
sheet to your teacher for him/her to mark.
I understood figurative
and literal language and
can explain it without
help.
Yes
No
Not
Sure
Literal language is:
Example:
Figurative language is:
Example:
A simile is:
Example:
A metaphor is:
Example:
Personification is:
Example:
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
CHECKLIST (cont)
A sound device is:
Example:
Onomatopoeia is:
Example:
Alliteration is:
Example:
Assonance is:
Example:
Consonance is:
Example:
Exaggeration is:
Example:
Understatement is:
Example:
A contradiction is:
Example:
A pun is:
Example:
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English: Grade 7
Language Use: Figurative and Literal Language
CHECKLIST (cont)
My score in Activity 1 was:
My score in Activity 2 was:
Teacher’s comments:
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