Read the information below about similes and metaphors
and complete the folloing exercises in your notebooks.
Both similes and metaphors are forms of comparison that
compare words in a sentence.
They can be used to make your sentences more interesting. How are similes
and metaphors different?
A simile is a word that compares words in a sentence. You can
usually tell if a simile is present in a sentence when you see the words
as or like.
Don ate his salad like a vacuum cleaner.
His arms were weak and felt like noodles.
The thunder was as loud as fireworks.
You can see that the underlined words in the sentences above are
compared to each other.
The words as and like are bolded to show that a simile occurs
in this sentence.
Like a simile, a metaphor compares words in a sentence; however,
instead of saying that one thing is like something else, a metaphor actually
makes one thing become something very different by renaming it. A
metaphor can sometimes use words like is, are, or was (and
other words) to signal that a metaphor is present. However, a metaphor never
uses the words like or as to compare.
The smoke was cotton balls billowing from the chimney.
You are my hero.
The sun was a furnace.
You can see in these examples that the first underlined word is actually
renamed by the second underlined word. The bolded words are bolded to show that
the second underlined word is something else.
A. Below are sentences that contain similes and metaphors.
In your notebooks, write down the two words in each sentence that are being
compared.
1. The cat’s fur was a blanket of warmth.
2. The lamp was a beacon of sunshine.
3. The fireworks were a lantern in the sky.
4. John slept like a log.
5. Mary was as sweet as pie.
6. George is lightning as he runs the race.
7. Gwen sings like an expert.
8. Mark’s voice is velvet.
9. Cindy is a fish when she swims.
10. Tom is like a computer when he does his math.
B. Write on the lines below whether each sentence above is a simile or
a metaphor. Write S for simile or M for metaphor.
1.____ 6.____
2.____ 7.____
3.____ 8.____
4.____ 9.____
5.____ 10.____
A. Below are several sentences. If a metaphor is present, write a
simile to take its place.
If a simile is present, write a metaphor to take its
place. It is fine to slightly change your sentences in your answers.
1. Mike is a chef when he’s in the kitchen.
________________________________________________________
2. Barbara is as hungry as a horse.
________________________________________________________
3. The car was a jet when it passed by us.
________________________________________________________
4. Kenny played the violin like an expert.
________________________________________________________
5. The music was as soothing as rain.
________________________________________________________
6. The grass is a green carpet for the golfers.
________________________________________________________
7. The inside of the car was a refrigerator.
________________________________________________________
8. Beth became the dance as the music played.
________________________________________________________
9. His stomach was a bottomless pit.
________________________________________________________
