IMPORTANT FIGURES OF SPEECH

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:01]Hello friends, I am Dr. Ranjeet Singh. Dear friends, today I will discuss with you important figures of speech. And in competitive exams, there are two types of questions related to figures of speech. First come the definition based MCQs. In which the definition of important figures of speech is asked or their definition is given in the options. You have to find out the correct definition and tick it. The second method is that examples are given and on the basis of the definition and examples, you have to identify which figure of speech is there in this line.

[00:00:42]So the first MCQs that we will discuss with you will be definition based.

[00:00:48]Later we will discuss with you MCQs related to examples of figures of speech.

[00:00:53]So let's start.

[00:00:57]First of all, it is important to know what are figures of speech?

[00:01:01]What is its definition? So please note that when we were studying in class 9th and 10th, we were taught that there are some words which enhance the beauty of poetry.

[00:01:13]We call them figures of speech. But at that time I only understood poetry. We mean poetry by Kaavya. But now pay attention, these figures of speech can be anywhere. These can be in prose. These can be in poetry. It is not necessary that this should be in poetry only.

[00:01:28]So this happens in literature. So, to provide literaryness to our literary language, when we use some words which give meaning beyond the ordinary meaning, then we call them figures of speech.

[00:01:42]That is, these figures of speech are a kind of literary device. Which we use in language and after using it our language becomes very creative and different from normal language. So that a very stylistic effect is produced by our language.

[00:02:01]How does it happen? Either the meaning of those words changes or the structure changes.

[00:02:06]When figures of speech are used based on meaning, the meanings of words become different.

[00:02:13]Each time the word appears, they are called troops. And if it is based on structure then it is called schemes.

[00:02:20]Structure simply means moving the words around. That word, this word will come at the end of the sentence.

[00:02:27]Then it will come at the beginning of the next sentence.

[00:02:29]These are structure based figures of speech.

[00:02:31]So the definition of figure of speech is that it is a kind of literary technique in which we separate the language from the normal language.

[00:02:39]By using it. When we use these words, our language becomes very creative and our style of speaking, our manner, our manner, becomes very effective. This simple meaning makes our language very attractive and impressive. This is the definition of figure of speech. Now you are given four options. The first one contains grammar rules, the second one contains literary expression, sorry, literal expression. I understood the meaning of literal in the dictionary.

[00:03:08]Literal Expression Dictionary Meaning. C is the stylistic use of language beyond ordinary meaning and structure. Such use of language which gives a meaning different from the normal meaning or a structure different from the normal structure is used. Your Style To make your style effective. So you must have understood that the complete definition of C option is figure of speech. Now we come to figures of speech. And here we have chosen figure sub speech in two ways. Because now even the exams conducted at the university level have one semester based on MCQs.

[00:03:46]So the PG level, UG level MCQs asked there have also been included along with the MCQs of competitive exams.

[00:03:56]So, this is Antone Classes. What is this figure of speech? What does this mean? I have to tell you this. And the first option is repetition of sentence. The same sentence comes again and again. The second is repetition of a word with a different meaning.

[00:04:14]Third is that words are omitted from the middle. Fourth, the sound is repeated again and again.

[00:04:22]So its correct option is that it is a figure of speech where the same word is repeated again and again and its meaning is different every time. It is called antechamber. It is written that this word is the same word which is used twice and each time its meaning is different. You must have understood.

[00:04:45]For example, he has said that there is a play of Shakespeare called Othello. In Othello, when the drama is about to end, a candle is burning in Dasmona's room.

[00:04:55]When Othello enters with the intention of killing her.

[00:05:01]He is already convinced that Desdemona has betrayed him. Then he says a line saying yet she must die.

[00:05:10]Else she will be tre more man. He will have to die. If you don't kill him, he can cheat other men. So he says put out the light. Put out the light followed by I'll Put Out the Light. After that I will extinguish the light of his life. Here the second light means light. After that I will end his life. So see, light has been used twice and its meaning is different both times. The definition is also given here that the light that came first was used for the candle and the light that came the second time was used for the dustmona's light.

[00:05:47]That is why the figure of speech here is enter classis. Where a word is repeated more than once in the same line but the meaning is different.

[00:05:58]Next question is what is your irony? I have to tell you what is the definition of irony.

[00:06:06]So Arni is the direct meaning of a word or a sentence.

[00:06:09]Opposite and intended meaning is that you intentionally mean the opposite of what you want to say.

[00:06:17]Sound repetition occurs in irony or omission of a word. Figures of speech are formed in this way. And there are many types of irony. You know there is a situational ironing. Verbal ironing occurs.

[00:06:31]So let us talk about verbal ironing here. What is the definition of the words through which our irony is expressed? And you know its definition is that whatever you are saying, your intentional meaning is completely opposite to the words you speak.

[00:06:52]When you say to someone that you are an honest man, it simply means that he is a very corrupt person. But in front of him you tell him that you are a very honest man. That means answer B is correct.

[00:07:07]If we look at its example, it is written that in irony something is said whose meaning is completely opposite to the words we speak. For example, there's a very famous line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar where Antony speaks and says, " For Brutus is an honorable man." So are they all honorable men. All these people who are speaking these things, who are conspirators, are speaking the truth.

[00:07:36]All these are respectable people and this is a satire, an irony on them. What he simply means is that all of them are lying.

[00:07:45]They have betrayed Caesar.

[00:07:47]This is what he means to say.

[00:07:50]But on the surface he says Brutus is an honorable man. The next figure of speech is letotis.

[00:07:58]What is its definition? What is this?

[00:08:01]If you are preparing for the exam then you should know the definition of all these figures of speech.

[00:08:09]Letotis Extreme Exaggeration To exaggerate something. Understatement using negation. You make something very small.

[00:08:18]Negation: By saying negative things. There is repetition of sound or repetition of bird.

[00:08:24]Now you have to find out what is the definition of Litos?

[00:08:30]Hope you all know.

[00:08:32]Notice what we do in Litotis?

[00:08:35]Use the opposite idea to express your point.

[00:08:38]That means pay attention. To make a statement, we say the opposite. They say the opposite. Let's use a knot. Let me tell you for example. Look, this is a love song poem by TS Eliot. Pay attention to what he says in this.

[00:08:56]In this he says I am no prophet. I am not a prophet.

[00:09:03]I am a common man. But he uses negative to express his views. And here is no great matter. And there is nothing very big here. I just want to meet that lady.

[00:09:13]Now you must have understood that when you express your point or your statements using negatives, then the figure up speech that happens there is Plato's, that is, you say your point very under statement but not by making it big but by making your idea very small and this is said when you use absolutely negative words, you say the opposite of what you want to say.

[00:09:39]Next, now this is a very famous figure of speech in Mitoni.

[00:09:43]Appears in all exams.

[00:09:46]What is the definition of mitosis? This is important for you to know.

[00:09:48]Should I just take someone's name directly?

[00:09:53]If you want to use a word, take someone's name, or say something, then you use its related word. Like for author you will use pen. For Soldier you will use Sword. This type of words have to be used or exaggeration has to be said or this figure is also based on sound patterns. So we all know that this question has come many times in TGT, PGT exams.

[00:10:18]And I think maybe if we look for the top five figures of speech that are asked, I think Tonimi is one of them.

[00:10:28]And what happens in this figure of speech? We don't use that word to express our point. We use words related to it to say something. For example, if we have to tell the author or about the author, then we will use pen instead.

[00:10:46]If we have to say something about Soldier, we will use Sword instead. That is, related terms like pen is related to author, sword is related to soldier, so we use such words. For example, the pen is mightier than the sword.

[00:11:06]That is, the power that a pen has in writing is greater than that of a sword. The next figure of speech is anomatopia. I do n't know whether you call it onomoto or whatever but its pronunciation is anomatopia.

[00:11:22]What is this figure of speech? This is also asked repeatedly in the exam.

[00:11:27]Sound imitation is done in this. The words that are formed through words, they suggest sound.

[00:11:35]Words suggest sound.

[00:11:39]Does it happen that words make a sound? Is this a figure of speech associated with the word omission? Are sentences moved around in this? Or is this figure of speech created based on grammar rules? And you know, in Hindi we call anomalyopia as sound ornamentation. That is, it is related to sound. The words used here give sound. We feel a voice from them. It feels like there is a bad sound in the ear. So anomalypia is a figure of speech in which a natural sound is created by words.

[00:12:16]Like when you say the snake hisses, that hissing sound is anomaly.

[00:12:25]What is a paradox? The next definition is what is a paradox? Dear friends, you must remember the definitions of all these figures of speech. This is very important. Whether you are preparing for academic level or competitive level.

[00:12:40]Paradox is called in Hindi, sorry, in English we call it self- contradictory statement. Self- contradictory statement means that whatever you are saying, you say something completely opposite to it and then later say something. So you cut your own thoat. You yourself cut off your own idea, then we will tell you that this is your paradox. That means you have now cut short what you were saying. Just the opposite of that, you started saying your own thing.

[00:13:12]So paradox means clear statement. It is a self-contradictory statement. Which has a very deep meaning. It is related to sound repetition.

[00:13:25]Figures of speech are related to grammar mistakes. So I have made the definition clear to you now that it is a statement in which the speaker cuts it off after saying his point. He says the opposite of that.

[00:13:39]Because he wants to present some deeper truth.

[00:13:41]For example, Oscar Wilde has a very famous ego statement. Life is too much to be taken seriously.

[00:13:52]G1 is too important to take seriously.

[00:13:55]And you know this very well.

[00:13:57]When this 'to' comes with the adverb 'to' then it has the meaning of not. That is, on one hand the live writer is saying that life is very important. He says there is no need to take this seriously. So he is contradicting his own point. He is trying to cut his own point. You understood.

[00:14:15]So this is what we call a paradox.

[00:14:18]Personification What is the definition of this figure of speech? This is to tell human qualities to non-human things, which are non-human things, non-living, we provide them human qualities.

[00:14:30]It may involve sound repetition, word omission, or a figure of speech based on the structure of the sentence.

[00:14:38]So, its definition simply means that in personification figure of speech we provide human qualities to non-human objects.

[00:14:49]For those who are non-living objects. For example, as you say, death lays its heavy hands on kings. So when Death lays his hands on Kings, it is simply that you have personified him.

[00:15:04]She is behaving like a human being.

[00:15:11]What is the figure of speech called periphrasis? This has to be told here. Is this direct expression called periphrasis? Is saying your point indirectly, in a roundabout way, in such a roundabout way, periphrasis? Which is called circum location. There is sound repetition in this. Or words are shortened to express one's point.

[00:15:39]What is the definition of this figure of speech?

[00:15:41]Periphrasis is a figure of speech in which we say something indirectly and in a roundabout way. That's what it means. In this, indirect and roundabout methods are adopted to express one's views. Let us give you an example.

[00:15:55]As soon as he died, he died. He died.

[00:15:59]So we will not say dead. We will say passed away. He met their maker. This is the way of saying your point in a roundabout way and this is what we call periphrasis. We will use Sun for That Bride Shining and In with the Sky It's So Long to Turn Around.

[00:16:19]So now this is an example of periphrases. If it is raining outside, we will say that it is raining like heavenly water dropped on the earth.

[00:16:27]So these are examples of peri-phrases where one does not say his point directly. They say it in a roundabout way.

[00:16:37]Pun is a figure of speech and in this we play with words. So what does this mean? Is it based on grammar rules? Is this a play on words? Where one word has many meanings? Is this sound repetition? Is this a sentence omission?

[00:16:58]You have to tell me what kind of figure of speech this is.

[00:17:00]And puns are used to create humor.

[00:17:03]Where many meanings emerge from the words you say.

[00:17:09]For example, I have taken the example of Hamlet and here Hamlet is very troubled in the beginning. Gawd, his mother and his uncle cannot understand why he remains so sad? So Claudius, the uncle, asks Hamlet, "How is it that clouds still hang upon you?"

[00:17:30]Here clouds means gloominess. What happened to you that there is sadness on your face? This is what he means.

[00:17:38]Now pay attention, he has used the word cloud and Hamlet gives the meaning exactly related to this cloud and also gives the reply. He says not so my lord. I'm Too Much in the Sun. There are no clouds surrounding me.

[00:17:53]I am not sad. I am happy.

[00:17:55]Now pay attention to this sun very carefully.

[00:17:58]This is also the meaning of Sun. This is the answer to this and this is also what it means to be S O N SUN. He says I am the son of the group and she married you. My father has died. I am very worried about these.

[00:18:12]So he also tells about the condition of this son that I am a son, that is why my condition is like this. And on the other hand, it also answers this question. By using this SUN Sun. So this is Playing with the Words. There is a play with words. Where one word has many meanings. You understood.

[00:18:32]Rhetorical Questions.

[00:18:35]Here you find rhetorical questions marked with a question mark. Now what is a rhetorical question? Is it an answer based question? When you are asked an answer then it is called a rhetorical question. Or there is a question which is asked only to make an impression. No answer is needed. Is this a grammar question or a statement? Which option is correct?

[00:18:59]Rhetorical questions are questions whose answer is implied. It happens within the question itself. Everyone knows its answer. There is no need to answer it. The best example of this is LG Written in a Country Church Yard. Where he asks many questions to his readers. And what questions do you have to ask? The reader knows that everyone knows the answer to this.

[00:19:23]When they say can storied on back up the dead from their graves. He says that if their graves are made multi-storeyed, will the people sleeping inside them come alive? He says this cannot happen. So there is no need to answer such questions.

[00:19:41]Their answer is implied.

[00:19:45]Can Anybody Call the Dead Back? So, these are all things that do n't need to be answered. His answer is already implied. Everyone knows it. So, this is only for effect, such questions are asked for effect and for answer.

[00:20:00]No. For example, if the question is, who has seen the wind? "Who has seen the wind?"

[00:20:09]Why answer this question? It's implied that the answer is none.

[00:20:15]Such questions are rhetorical.

[00:20:19]Synecdoche is a very important figure of speech, just like metonymy. What does it mean? Whole for part and part for whole.

[00:20:29]Sound repetition, grammar correction, word omission. What is its definition?

[00:20:36]In synecdoche, you know very well that a single part represents the entire body, whatever that part is connected to.

[00:20:45]For example, if I say, "I fed 100 mouths. I fed 100 mouths. I fed something to 100 mouths." "Mouth" does n't mean mouths. Mouth means people.

[00:20:58]Mouth means people. Those mouths represent the entire person. So, here, " part for the whole" happens. Synecdoche is a figure of speech where It is used for "part for the whole" and "whole for the part."

[00:21:12]This is a figure of speech where a small part represents the entire body or a larger personality. This example comes up a lot in exam exams. This figure of speech is syntactically called alliteration. What figure of speech is it?

[00:21:37]What is its definition? Is alliteration the repetition of a vowel? Is it consonant sound repetition? Is it word omission or a change in meaning? Alliteration. You know, alliteration is used a lot in children's reading books, and what happens in them is consonant sound repetition continuously because vowel repetition is called assonance. So this is alliteration.

[00:22:06]In alliteration, consonant sound is repeated. The sound is repeated again and again with consonant sound.

[00:22:10]Here is an example: Peter Piper picked a pack of pickled peppers.

[00:22:17]This is a consonant sound that It's repeated over and over again.

[00:22:23]What is an ND plus AD plus figure of speech? I need to explain this to you. When the last word of a sentence is used at the beginning of the next sentence, it's called the NID process. Is this sound imitation? Is it word omission? Or shortening a sentence, writing it in a shorter form, is called the NIT process. And you know its definition is that when the last word of a sentence is used at the beginning of the next sentence, it's repeated. Then the figure of speech there is the ND process. For example, look here at your Lysdas.

[00:23:02]For Lysdas is dead before his prime.

[00:23:07]This is repetition. The last word of one clause is used at the beginning of the next clause.

[00:23:12]This is what we call the ND process.

[00:23:17]Anaphora, this is also a very important figure of speech. Anaphora.

[00:23:22]What does anaphora mean?

[00:23:25]At the beginning of a sentence, the same words are repeated again and again in every line.

[00:23:30]This is called anaphora. Or the sound changes, or words are removed, or the meaning changes. What is this figure of speech related to? So, anaphora means that whatever sentence starts, most of them start with the same word. They start with the same phrase.

[00:23:48]There is anaphora figure of speech.

[00:23:51]For example, see here, the example is the voice of the Lord is over daughters. The God of glory thunders the Lord over men. Again, the repetition is the same. The voice of the Lord, the voice of the Lord. This repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of a sentence is called anaphora.

[00:24:15]Antitabol is a famous figure of speech. It is asked a lot in PG exams etc. What is antitabol? Do we reverse the words in it? Is it? Do we move it around? The word that comes here, last, we bring it to the first in the next clause, or it's sound repetition, or it's a word omission, or it's a figure of speech related to a grammar rule. An anti-metabolic. So, in an anti-metabolic, we know we change the order of words. For example, if "I went to school" becomes "school went." In this way, we change the structure. I'll give you examples now. There's an anti-metabolic figure of speech.

[00:24:53]For example, there's a very famous line by John F. Kennedy.

[00:24:56]His initial letter side is "A."

[00:24:58]From there, ask not, ask not, what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country. Now, pay attention very carefully. Here, it's "What your country can do for you." Here, you can do for your country. How did the word order change? There's a line by Socrates: "Eat to live, not live to eat." All these examples are anti-metabolic.

[00:25:23]Metabolism and Shakespeare's line, "Fair is foul and foul is fair."

[00:25:28]This is also a very famous line from this figure of speech.

[00:25:34]Antithesis: What is antithesis? I need to explain this to you. It's a figure of speech.

[00:25:40]Antithesis.

[00:25:43]You must carefully observe the difference between this and an oxymoron, because it refers to a clause, while an oxymoron refers to the same clause.

[00:25:50]Because an oxymoron contains two opposite words in the same clause, and an antithesis contains different clauses that express opposite ideas.

[00:26:00]Similar ideas, opposite ideas, in balance, sound repetition, word omission. Which of these is correct?

[00:26:08]So, you know, in this sentence, two opposite ideas are presented consecutively in two clauses.

[00:26:14]That's why a parallel structure is created. For example, "I defended the Republic as a young man." "I shall not desert her now that I am old." So, in this phrase, "Young man" appears in this clause. " Old" appears in the next clause. Right here. But this figure of speech is antithesis.

[00:26:33]Another example is "In peace, you long for war, and in war, you long for peace." When there's peace, you long for war, and when there's war, you long for peace.

[00:26:50]What is the definition of a figure of speech called apostrophe? In apostrophe, we directly address an idea that isn't present. It's dead, non-living, or not present? The second is sound repetition, the third is a grammar rule, and the fourth is word omission. Which of these is correct?

[00:27:10]And you know, the simple meaning of an apostrophic figure of speech is that it's a figure of speech created by addressing an idea, person, or object that isn't present.

[00:27:21]It's addressed. For example, you might have read "O Captain, My Captain," Walt Bittman's poem, "O Captain, My Captain." In the beginning, it says "O Captain, My Captain," and Abraham Lincoln isn't present.

[00:27:35]Here's an example. Patience, give me strength. So, here, patience is being personified and adjusted in a way that says, "Give me a little strength. Make me a little patient." So, the figure of speech here is apostrophe. The apostrophe figure of speech here is a figure of speech.

[00:27:56]What is the definition of the assonance figure of speech? We just discussed that assonance involves vowel sound repetition, and alliteration, which we saw, involves consonant sound repetition. The word domination, meaning change, means the "a" option is correct. It involves sound repetition.

[00:28:14]For example, here's "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."

[00:28:24]See, the "a" sound is repeated again and again. The light of the fire is bright. The "i" sound is repeated. In French, the "till" and "e" sound is repeated.

[00:28:35]Therefore, here is the assonance figure of speech.

[00:28:40]Next is "assonance date." What is this "assonance date" figure of speech? Does it have a definition? Pay attention to its use. In a way, when you read Francis Bacon's aphoristic style, you'll find many examples of it. He doesn't use conjunctions at all. He creates long sentences like this.

[00:28:59]So assignment means using conjunctions. Not using them. Omitting them. Sound repetition or word repetition.

[00:29:08]So assignment means removing the use of connecting words like conjunctions and writing long sentences.

[00:29:16]Look, here's Julius Caesar saying, "I came, I saw, I canker."

[00:29:28]What should have been "I came and I saw and I canker," but he removed the conjunctions. Here's another example: "Reduce, reuse, recycle," and it should have been "Reduce, reuse, and recycle," but he removed the "-."

[00:29:47]So, this example is an example of assiduousness. The third example is "He arrived, checked his male, walked away."

[00:29:55]So, it means "arrive, check his male, and walked away."

[00:30:03]Next is chiasmus. This is very important. It's a parallel structure. In this, we manipulate the structure for balance. We move words around. There's sound repetition, or words are omitted.

[00:30:19]In this, we manipulate the grammatical structure.

[00:30:24]I'll give you an example of chiasmus.

[00:30:26]John Keats's line is "Beauty is truth.

[00:30:28]Truth is beauty." Here, we've slightly changed the structure of the words. So, the figure of speech here is diceus. The second is this writer. His example is " It's not the man in life. It's the life in my man." It was a very famous example. I ca n't remember it, but it's from some writer. They say it's not the dog in the fight. That matters. But it's the fight in the dog that matters. Yes, that's an example. So, it's not the man in my life, it's the life in my man. These are examples of Cosmus.

[00:31:15]What is the next climax figure of speech? In this, thoughts are presented in ascending order.

[00:31:20]And each subsequent thought presents a loftier idea than the previous one. A slightly higher idea.

[00:31:24]Thoughts are presented in decreasing order.

[00:31:30]Based on increasing order mens rea. Sound repetition or word omission.

[00:31:33]So, words are presented based on increasing order mens rea.

[00:31:36]When he says "I came, I saw I conquered."

[00:31:40]Examples of this are: look up in the sky, it's a word, it's a plane, it's a super.

[00:31:47]This is an example of a climax.

[00:31:50]This line from Julius Caesar, "I came, I saw I conquered." It also has a climax figure of speech.

[00:31:57]Conjunctions are missing, of course. But it also has a climax figure of speech. At first, he walked, then he ran, and at last, he simply flooded. All these examples are climax figures of speech.

[00:32:14]Next, what is consonance? Consonance involves consonant repetition in close words. Consonant sounds are repeated in consecutive words.

[00:32:28]For example, the curfew tolls, the nail of part in. And here, you'll notice the tolls is a double l nail, tolls nail.

[00:32:38]Here, this is a consonance figure of speech, and this example is Thomas Gray, elite country church. The next figure of speech is analepsis.

[00:32:49]What is this epanalepsis figure of speech and its meaning? Pay attention to repetition at start and in. Some words appear at both the beginning and the end of a sentence. Is this a figure of speech related to a sound chain? Is it a word omission? Is it a figure of speech related to grammar or a rule of speech? The answer is that it's a figure of speech in which certain words are repeated at the beginning and end of a sentence.

[00:33:19]For example, here's a speech: " Mankind must put an end to war," and "War will put an end to mankind."

[00:33:29]That means, you'll notice the same word that appears at the beginning also appears at the end.

[00:33:34]That's why it's an analepsis figure of speech. Another example is "The King is Dead, Long Live the King." Look, "King" is repeated here, both at the beginning and at the end of the same sentence.

[00:33:48]Friends, these are some important figures of speech. I'll continue. I'll bring you some more important figures of speech in the next lecture. I hope you understand all this and will definitely revise them. Thank you.

[00:34:02]Friends, thank you very much.