Year 7 — Vocabulary

Figurative language

Understand what figurative language is, identify simile, metaphor and personification in a sentence, and explain the effect a writer creates by using them.

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💡Understand

Figurative language describes something by comparing it to something else, rather than stating a plain fact. Writers use it to make an idea feel more vivid, or to suggest a feeling without saying it directly. Three of the most common types are simile (a comparison using 'like' or 'as'), metaphor (saying one thing IS another), and personification (giving a non-human thing human qualities).

“The classroom was a zoo.”

This is a metaphor — the classroom isn't literally a zoo, but calling it one suggests it was loud, chaotic and hard to control, in a single vivid image.

🔍Spot it

Which phrase in each sentence is the figurative language?

Question 1

The wind howled through the empty street.

💡 'Howled' gives the wind a human/animal-like voice — personification.

Question 2

Her smile was as bright as the morning sun.

💡 The word 'as' signals a simile — comparing her smile directly to sunlight.

Question 3

Time is a thief that steals our best moments.

💡 Time isn't literally a thief — this is a metaphor suggesting time takes things from us without permission.

🧠Think about it

In the worked example, what does calling the classroom 'a zoo' suggest that a plain sentence like 'the classroom was noisy' wouldn't?

✍️Try it

Read the sentence, then answer the question below.

The old computer groaned and wheezed every time it started up.

Question 1

What type of figurative language is used here?

💡 The computer is given human/animal sounds — groaning and wheezing.

📝Practise

For each sentence, identify the type of figurative language used.

Question 1

"The exam was a mountain I had to climb."

Question 2

"The stars winked at us from the dark sky."

Question 3

"His temper was like a firework, ready to explode."

Question 4

Complete this simile with one word: "The ice was as cold as ___."

💡 Any single word that's genuinely very cold works — 'ice' is the most obvious, but the checker only accepts that exact word for this practice question.

Question 5

"The city never sleeps."

Question 6

"Her words cut like a knife."

🎯Apply

Read the passage, then answer the questions below.

The storm arrived without warning. Grey clouds swallowed the sky, and the sea rose up in furious waves that clawed at the harbour wall. Fishing boats bobbed like corks, helpless against the swell. By the time the wind finally exhausted itself, the whole village looked as though a giant hand had swept through it.

Question 1

"Grey clouds swallowed the sky" is an example of which technique?

💡 The clouds aren't literally eating — but 'swallowed' suggests the sky disappeared completely, as if consumed.

Question 2

"Fishing boats bobbed like corks" is an example of which technique?

💡 Look for the comparison word.

Question 3

Find one more example of personification in the passage and type the key word (the verb that gives something human/animal action).

💡 Think about what the waves are described as doing to the harbour wall.

🏆Challenge

GCSE-style application: 'By the time the wind finally exhausted itself' personifies the wind as tired. Explain the effect of this personification in one or two sentences — what does it suggest about the storm's power, and how it ends?

🔄Review

A quick mastery check — 3 questions.

Question 1

"The leaves danced in the autumn breeze."

Question 2

"Her patience was a deep well that never ran dry."

Question 3

"He ran as fast as a cheetah."

Want to practise building words from prefixes, suffixes and roots? Try the word-family builder →