Grammar, Conventions & Figurative Language
Aligned to L.4.1 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
What this lesson teaches
Strong writing avoids run-ons and fragments and uses words in the right order. Figurative language like similes and metaphors compares things, and idioms mean something different from the literal words.
Worked examples
Example 1
A simile: 'She was as brave as a lion.' A metaphor: 'The classroom was a zoo.' An idiom: 'It's raining cats and dogs' means it is raining hard, not actual animals.
Example 2
A simile uses like or as: 'The lake was like glass.' A metaphor drops the comparison word: 'The lake was glass.'
Example 3
Personification gives a thing human actions: 'The old house groaned in the wind.' Houses do not groan, and that is what makes the line work.
Practice questions
- Write a simile using 'as ... as.'
- What does the idiom 'break a leg' really mean?
- Fix this run-on: I like pizza it is cheesy.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Gramática, Convenciones y Lenguaje Figurado
Una buena escritura evita oraciones seguidas sin puntuación y fragmentos, y usa las palabras en el orden correcto. El lenguaje figurado, como los símiles y las metáforas, compara cosas, y los modismos significan algo diferente a lo que dicen literalmente.
Ejemplo 1: Un símil: 'Ella era tan valiente como un león.' Una metáfora: 'El salón de clases era un zoológico.' Un modismo: 'Está lloviendo a cántaros' significa que llueve muy fuerte, no que caigan cántaros reales.
Ejemplo 2: Un símil usa como: 'El lago era como un espejo.' Una metáfora quita la palabra de comparación: 'El lago era un espejo.'
Ejemplo 3: La personificación le da acciones humanas a una cosa: 'La casa vieja gemía con el viento.' Las casas no gimen, y eso es lo que hace que funcione.
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