English Grammar

Irony  is a situation in which there is a contrast between expectation and reality .  Irony is a literary device in which contradictory statements or situations reveal a reality that is different from what appears to be true. T his refers to the difference between expectations and reality . For examples: 1)  Telling a rude customer to “have a nice day”. 2) "Great, someone tore my new dress." 3) When delivering bad news Officer said, " the good news is". 4) The locker room smells really good. 5) The chef won't eat his own cooking. 6) Nice clean water you have got here. 7) There are some people who says genius for foolish things. 8) The barber always need a hair cut himself. 9) " A fine thing indeed!" he muttered to himself. 10) After accident his friend told, "Thank you for driving carefully". 11) When my brother fell down, he said, " Excellent! This day couldn't start off any better!" 12) When my father spilled curry o...

Uses of Ellipsis to Show an Omission of a Word or Words from a Text. An ellipsis is a punctuation mark consisting of three dots . When an Ellipsis ends a sentence, four dots are used. You can use an ellipsis at the start of a sentence, in the middle , or at the end . For examples: 1) That is gruesome. Revenge is one thing, but... 2) Let's meet up this afternoon... 3) I was thinking about you today... 4) A tall, slim tree.... 5) Weeks later... Exams will be finally over. 6) Yeah? Well, you can just.... 7) No country can really develop.... 8) Our proposal has been rejected.... 9) What is more important.... 10) One thing I was taught... forget about who is at fault... 11) I know he deserved it, but... 12) We were now on our own... 13) “And everything … ?” 14) What a beautiful garden it was... such a wonderful place. 15) I was um... thinking about you. 16) You don't have the right to... he is a honest man. 17) I know I saw my keys somewhere... 18) They said," it was a...

Assonance  is a figure of speech in which the   same vowel sound repeats within a group of words, or  in a line   of text or poetry . For Example: 1)  B a ck in Bl a ck. 2)  S i lent n igh t, holy n igh t, all is calm, all is br igh t. 3)  It's h o t and it's m o n o t o nous. 4) The h a t m a n. 5) What's g o ing o n? 6) We w i ll l i ght f i re here. 7) The lu mpy , bu mpy road. 8) Fl ee t f ee t sw ee p by sl ee ping g ee se. 9) A r o lling st o ne gathers n o  moss. 10)  S ur f and t ur f. 11)  M o tion o f the   o cean is sl o w. 12) H e ar th e m e llow w e dding b e lls. 13) G o and m o w the lawn. 14) Shyam w e nt h e re and th ere and everywh ere . 15) The engin ee r held the st ee ring to st ee r the vehicle. 16) T alking and w alking , hours on end. 17) L o ng, l o w m o an. 18) A turtl e in the fertil e soil. 19)  Goodn igh t, sleep t igh t. 20)  It's h o t and it's m o n o t o nous...

Euphemism  is  the   polite expression and it is used in  the  place of words or phrases that are comparatively unpleasant or harsh. Instead of harsh words, mild words are used. For example: 1) He passed away leaving behind a void. [died] 2) He's between jobs . [ means unemployed]. 3) They are on the streets . [homeless] 4) He is getting on . [old] 5) My friend is big boned . [ fat]. 6) That was a questionable idea . [ Problems]. 7) He is a little thin on top . [less hair on head] 8) My friend is economical with the truth . [lair] 9) Ramesh is senior citizen . [old man] 10) She is my better half . [ spouse] 11) You have a interesting point of view . [idiot] 12) Jayesh need a bit of  piece and quiet . [Go away] 13) He went to restroom . [toilet] 14) My poor grandmother started losing her marbles after she had a stroke. [suffer from mental illness] 15) Some were unwilling to go to relocation center . [prison camp] 16) This is my friend's first...

Epigrams  is a  figure of speech wherein short remarks   are used to convey a brief message in a sharp or witty manner. It is a   brief , witty statement about a topic . For examples: 1) I'm starting with the man in the mirror. 2) If we don't end war, war will end us. 3) Little strokes fell great oaks. 4)  The best thing to hold on to in life is each other. 5)  Blessed are the peacemakers. 6)  An unbending tree is easily broken. 7)  Little sparks ignite great flames. 8) Live simply, so that others may simply live. 9)  Fresh tears are wasted on old griefs. 10) It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. 11) If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning. 12) Fools rush on where angels fear to thread. 13)  An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind. 14)  I am not young enough to know everything. 15)  No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend. 16)  To err ...

A paradox is a figure of speech that seems to contradict itself,  t he statement may appear to be silly  but which, upon further examination, contains some truth or reason. A paradox is an idea . For examples: 1)I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse. 2) I had to come to prison to be a crook . 3) The first rule is to delete all rules. 4) I know that I know nothing . 5) If everyone is special, no one is. 6) The Child is father of the Man . 7) Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again . 8)  Deep down, you're really shallow . 9) I’m My Own Grandpa . 10) You have to be cruel to be kind . 11) Your mission is to not accept this mission . 12) We must go backwards to go forwards . 13) It’s weird not to be weird . 14) You can save money by spending it . 15) This is the beginning  of the end . 16) Love is a disease . 17) Less is more . 18) He is nobody . 19) In order to lead, you must follow . 20) Whatever you do will be insignifi...

Oxymoron is a figure of speech where there  is a pairing of contradictory words that contradict each other and are brought together.  It is a device and are attributed to the same thing for a better impact. For examples: 1) The exam papers for the final exam are an open secret . (Open,  secret are a pair of  contradictory words  ) 2) Some people are wise fool .  (Wise,   fool  are a pair of  contradictory words ) 3) He ate the whole piece of cake.  (Whole,  piece  are a pair of  contradictory words ) 4) I friendly fight with my friend.  (Friendly,  fight  are a pair of  contradictory words ) 5) That is my adult child . (Adult, child  are a pair of  contradictory words) 6) Five of them are playing alone together . ( Alone, together  are a pair of  contradictory words) 7) Student's table was organised mess . ( Organised, mess  are a pair of  contradictory wo...

Synecdoche is a figure of speech  which allows a part to stand for a whole or for a whole to stand for a part. For examples: 1) Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. 2) Beautiful are the feet that bring the good news. 3) The women are forever  wagging tongues.  [Gossip is often referred to as wagging tongues] 4) Enjoy the bounty of the summer yield. 5) He have four mouths to feed at home. [ mouth ( a part) means people (whole)] 6) Check out my new wheels. [ wheels ( a part) means car (whole)]   7) Give us this day our daily bread.  [  bread  ( a part) means food (whole)] 8) The hired hands completed the given work.    [  hired hands  ( a part) means workers (whole)] 9) The father in him stopped him from beating this child. 10) Can you spare your wallet? 11) There are best brains in our school. 12) He is a poor creature. 13) India won the match. 14) His glasses are broken.  [  glasses  ( a ...

A  pun  is a figure of speech that plays with words that have multiple meanings of a term to evoke laughter .  Many  puns  rely on simple homophones . For examples: 1) A bicycle can't stand on their own because it is two-tired. 2) Guerrilla warfare is more than just throwing a banana. 3) Time flies like an arrow. 4) He lies abroad and his family prospers back home. 5) Make like a tree and leave. 6) Tomorrow you shall find me a grave man. 7) Mathematics is so pointless. 8) Fish are smart because they live in school. 9) The grammar lover had a lot of comma sense. 10) Every calendar's days are numbered. 11) Farmer bill dies in house. 12) This vacuum sucks. 13) Do hotel managers get board with their jobs? 14) Dieting is a matter of life and breadth. 15) Hospitals are sued by seven foot doctors. 16) Crabs don't like to share; they are shellfish. 17) A horse is a very stable kind of animal. 18) You can't sing while fishing; they don't like bass. [ bass ref...

T autology  is an expression or phrase that says the same thing twice , just in a different way. It uses two   different  words or phrases that express the same meaning . For example: 1) The students will take turns , one after another . [Turns means one after another] 2) Isolated , lonely place is ahead. [ Isolated   means   lonely place ] 3) He came at 1.p.m. in the afternoon .  [ 1.p.m.   means   afternoon ] 4) They whispered about you and I heard it with my own ears .  [ heard   means   own ears ] 5) Is this adequate enough ?  [ adequate   means   enough ] 6) I want to see him personally .  [ see him   means   personally , these words express same ideas ] 7) The evening sunset was beautiful.  [ evening   means   sunset , these words express same ideas ] 8) This is a new innovation .  [   new   means   innovation , these words express same ideas ...

Metonymy  is a figure of speech in which a thing or concept is not called by  its   own name, but by  the   name of something intimately associated with that thing. For examples: 1) The pen is mightier than the sword . [ Literary power is superior than military power] 2) He writes a fine hand . [ Good handwriting] 3) He is a man of the cloth. [ Man of the church] 4) You must discuss your point with permission from the chair . [ Permission from senior] 5) Money just walked in. [ A rich person came inside] 6) The grave's a fine and private place. [ Grave means death] 7) The suits were at a meeting. [ Suits means businessman] 8) Let me give you a hand . [ Hand means help] 9) The office was busy in work. [ Office means people in office] 10) There are lot of good heads in the university. [ Good heads means intelligent students] 11) We need some new blood in the organization. [ New blood means new people] 12) He has new set of wheels . [ Wheels mean...

Onomatopoeia  is a figure of speech in which words evoke the actual sound of the thing they refer to or describe . W hen a word describes a sound and actually mimics the sound of the object , persons , birds , animals , etc , it is  Onomatopoeia. For examples: 1) Frog croaks , birds whistles . 2) Water plops into pond, splish-splash downhill. 3) The bell went ding - dong . 4) The owl hooted  in the tree. 5) The car horn  beeped  loudly. 6) A window being broken bang . 7) My teeth chattered as I stood in the snow. 8) Hissing and panting the snake came out. 9) "Buzz! Buzz!" said the honeybee. 10) The wolves howled at the moon.  11) " Drip! Drip! " said the raindrops on my window. 12) Cock-a-doodle-do , crowned the roaster. 13) The clock goes tick-tock . 14) Don't beep that horn again. 15) Click the button to take the picture. 16) Dog barks . 17) Tring - Tring went the alarm. 18) Bang , went the gun! 19) Swoosh went the basketball throu...

Repetition  is when words or phrases are repeated in a sentence.  Repetition  is often used in poetry or song , and it is used to create rhythm and bring attention . Words are repeated in a same line for better poetic effect . For example: 1) From the jingling and tinkling of the bells , bells ,  bells ,  bells . 2) Bangles , crystal  bangles , glass  bangles . 3) I stand and look at them long and long . 4) They were so queer ,.  so very queer . 5) Below the trees, below the hills and below the lighthouse. 6) The ice was here, t he ice was there, t he ice was everywhere. 7) Day after day , day after Say. 8) He must stand, must wait and must see. 9) He ran slowly ,  slowly and very  slowly . 10) I gazed --- and gazed --- but little thought. 11) These things he plants , who plants a tree. 12) For happy  daughters and happy  wives. 13) Twinkle , twinkle little stars. 14) The truth is the truth on...

Alliteration  happens when words that start with the same sound (not just the same letter) are used repeatedly in a phrase or sentence .  Alliteration  is a literary technique when two or more words are linked that share the same first consonant sound OR same alphabet . It is there to create a better poetic effect . For examples: 1) P eter P iper p icked a p eck of p ickled p eppers. 2) S anjay s aved s even s nails. 3) B ipin b ought b lue b ike. 4) C hirag c arefully c aught c atfish. 5) The s hells s he s ells are s eashells. 6) S heep s hould s leep in a s hed. 7) The g irl g athered g reen leaves. 8) W hisper w ords of w isdom. 9)  B u sy  b u zzing, the  b e e  b e haved  b e autifully. 10) J ackal j umped and j iggle away. 11) S even s isters s lept s oundly on the s and. 12) A pples, a pricots a nd a vocados a dded a new twist to the amazing dish. 13) H is h orsemen h ard behind us ride. 14) S he s ees s heep s leeping. 15) L azy...

Transferred epithet  is when an adjective usually used to describe one thing is transferred to another thing Or    transfer of an epithet from  its  proper subject to another associated with it. For example: 1) I had a wonderful day. Here  "wonderful" actually describes  the  kind of day  the  speaker experienced.   The day is not itself  wonderful. 2) He had a sleepless night.  Here  "sleepless" actually describes  the  kind of night  the  speaker experienced.    The night is not itself sleepless. 3)  T he children had a joyous ride.   Here  " joyous " actually describes  the  kind of ride  the  children experienced.  .  The ride is not itself  joyous . 4) His careless words created a chaos.  Here  " careless " actually describes  the  kind of words  the  speaker told.  The words is no...

Hyperbole are  e xaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally . It is used for a better poetic effect. For example: 1) This bag weight a ton. 2) The green carpet covers the length and breadth of the Earth. 3) " I haven't seen you in a million years." 4) She had a brain the size of planet. 5) She's is as old as hills. 6) Secrets  travel faster than the speed of light. 7) Its raining cats and dog. 8) I died of embarrassment. 9) I'm so hungry so that I can eat a mountain. 10) Fires in my pockets. 11) I'm so excited, I could die! 12) It took forever to find you. 13) " Billion Dollar in my pocket." 14) The shopping cost her a fortune. 15) He has the memory of an elephant. 16) He is running faster than lightening. 17) He runs like a wind. 18) He talks a mile a minute. 19) Fake news everywhere. 20) He eats like a bird. 21) Its worst day of my entire life. 22) She was spitting bullets when angered. 23) The kings nose was thre...

Anti - Climax   is a rhetorical device that can be defined as a disappointing situation , or a sudden transition in discourse from an important idea to a trivial one. Here words are arranged in descending order of importance.  Anti - Climax are there to create a better impact and a better poetic effect . For example: 1)  He lost his family, his car and his cell phone. 2)  "I can't die yet, I've got responsibilities and a family, and I have to look after my parents. 3) He was beaten up,  knocked down and s lapped.  4) He die, He faint, he fall.    5)  "Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends." 6) " For God, for Country and for Yale". 7)    "And as I’m sinkin’,  The last thing that I think  Is, did I pay my rent?" 8)   He lost it all, he lost all wealth, he lost all contacts. 9) He was a rogue, a liar, a tricky man. 10) The lion thundered, he roared, he smirked and finally smiled. 11)...

Climax, a Greek term meaning “ladder,” it is a figure of speech  in which successive words, phrases, clauses, or sentences are arranged in ascending order of importance . For example: 1) She is a good humorist, a better worker and best mother. 2) "It's a bird.....it's a plane....it's Superman!" 3) "It's lost, vaded, broken, dead within an hour". 4) The wind smiled sweetly, laughed loudly and roared uproariously. 5) Faith, hope and love are three things that we should have. 6) He sacrificed his business, his home and his honour for his ambition. 7) He was harassed, slapped and beaten up. 8) Since friendship was lost, fidelity was lost and liberty was lost - all was lost. 9) He lost his dog, his child and his wife at one fell swoop. 10) His idea was simple, motivational and inspirational. 11) He came, he saw and he conquered. 12) He is my friend, a role model and an achiever. 13)  "I think we've reached a point of great decision, not...

An exclamation mark is a type of punctuation mark that goes at the end of a sentence.  An exclamatory sentence conveys a strong emotion and ends with an exclamation mark (!) . For example: 1) " Aah! It's paining!" 2) "Stop! Come here!" 3) We won! 4) I'm free! 5) He actually won! 6) You're late again! 7) Wow! we won! 8)  Oh!  Most miserable wretch that I am! 9) Shut the door! 10)  It's alive! It's alive! 11)  I can't believe it's not Friday! 12) Look at him go! 13) I love it! 14) Get out of my way! 15) Stop! Don't copy! 16) Help! Help! Save me! 17) Let's go! We are late. 18) Yes, I will marry you. 19) The man won a million in cash! 20) Sit down! 21) Ah! There you are. 22) What a beautiful weather! 23) Hello! How are you? 24) Good night! Sweet dream. 25) " No school during lockdown - yippee!" 26) How beautiful this city is! 27) Wait, there is snake! 28) What a coincidence this is! 29) Hey, no smoking in he...

Interrogation is a figure of speech where questions are asked for a better poetic effect or better impact . Here questions are asked not for answer, but to set us thinking . For examples: 1) Who is there so vile that will not love his country? 2) Am I an idiot to fall for your lies? 3) Isn't this my own, my sweet house? 4) What though sorrow seems to win, O'er hopes a heavy sway? 5) Are we foolish to get carried away by these empty promises? 6) Does the needle ever wink its eye? 7) If the shower will make the roses bloom, Oh, why lament it falls? 8) And what is the sound of the birch's bark? 9) What though Death at times steps in, And calls our best away? 10) Why doesn't the wing of a building fly? 11) If the shower will make the roses bloom, Oh, why lament its falls? 12) What though sorrow seems to win, O'er hopes a heavy sway? 13) What though death at times steps in, And calls our best way? 14) What is this life, if full of care? 15) When can t...