Sometimes, a sentence says less than it means. When someone says “not bad,” they may actually mean something is good. When a person says “That was no small achievement,” they are pointing to something impressive without saying it directly. This…
A good antimetabole often sounds like a sentence folding back on itself. It repeats the same key words, but changes their order so the second half gives the first half a new force. That is why many antimetabole examples feel…
Some lines are memorable not because they use difficult words, but because they are carefully balanced. That is one reason chiasmus is so powerful. It gives a sentence a turning effect, where the second part reflects the first part in…
English is not only about choosing the right words. The way your voice moves while speaking can also change how your message sounds. Sometimes your voice goes up. Sometimes it goes down. Sometimes it becomes softer, stronger, warmer, flatter, or…
Some English words look or sound the same, but their meanings can be completely different. For example, the word bat can mean a flying animal. It can also mean the object used to hit a ball in sports. That kind…
Some English words sound exactly the same when you say them, but they do not mean the same thing. For example, sea and see sound alike. But sea means a large body of salt water, while see means to look…
Synecdoche is a literary device where you refer to something by using a part of it or, in some cases, the whole to represent a part. You already hear this in everyday language. When someone says “We need more hands on…
A closed syllable is a syllable that ends in a consonant, which “closes” the vowel sound inside it. Because of this, the vowel usually has a short sound. For example: In each case, the vowel is followed by a consonant,…
Epiphora, also called epistrophe, is a figure of speech where the same word or phrase is repeated at the end of sentences or clauses to create emphasis. You notice it when a line keeps returning to the same ending. The…