English Personification: Meaning, Examples, Preparation Tips, Practice Questions with Answers

Personification is a figurative language technique in which non-living things are given human traits to create vivid, emotional descriptions. The nonhuman things can be animals, objects, or even a concept. The human characteristics given to these things can be emotion, behavior, or actions that bring nonhuman things to life.

The use of personification makes the English language more relatable, engaging, and impactful. We use personification in daily conversations, music and literature.

When personification is used in language, it:

• Helps readers empathize with non-human elements
• Deepens emotional connection to human characters
• Emphasizes the non-human element’s role in the story
• Brings life to the write up

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What are Synonyms

The Oxford dictionary says, “personification of something a person who has a lot of a particular quality or characteristic. (countable)” and “the practice of representing objects, qualities, etc. as humans, in art and literature; an object, quality, etc. that is represented in this way.” (uncountable)

It is pronounced as /pəˌsɒnɪfɪˈkeɪʃn/.

According to Collins dictionary, “if you say that someone is the personification of a particular thing or quality, you mean that they are a perfect example of that thing or that they have a lot of that quality.” It is pronounced as pəʳsɒnɪfɪkeɪʃən.

The Cambridge dictionary states, “a person who is a perfect example of something.” For example: She played a character who was the personification of evil.

In literature, “it is the act of giving a human quality or characteristic to something which is not human,” for example, He was the personification of courage with all the illnesses he went through.

It is pronounced as UK /pəˌsɒn.ɪ.fɪˈkeɪ.ʃən/ US  /pɚˌsɑː.nə.fəˈkeɪ.ʃən/.

Also Read: Antonyms: Meaning, Exceptions and Examples

Personification a type of figurative language that enhances descriptions and make stories more relatable. Hence, it is not meant to be taken literally. When personification is used to attribute human qualities or actions in different aspects like inanimate objects, animals, or abstract ideas, they become the different types of personification. Let’s understand by examples:

Giving human actions to objects: “The strong wind shook the leaves like a child throwing a tantrum".  (Leaves being personified as a cranky child)

Giving human emotions to non-human entities: "The moon smiled down on us". (human emotion ‘smile’ being used for non-human thing ‘moon’)

Types of Personification in English

Attributing human characteristics to abstract concepts: "Good times fly in a blink of eye.” (Fly, a human characteristic being attributed to an abstract concept of good times)

Personifying animals: "The dog pleaded with his eyes".  (Dog being personified as a pleading human)

Types of Personification in English

Also Read: Adverbs with Meaning and Examples

The technique of personification is used to describe objects as if they are people to make sentences more exciting, relatable, and enhance the emotional impact of a text in English language.

Talking about its structure, Personification is when the verb and other parts of speech contribute to the figurative description.

For example,

• "The wind howled" personifies the wind by giving it the human action of howling.
• “The leaves danced in the breeze” describes leaves as if they are dancing, a human action.
• Mike’s heart is racing at 100 miles per hour. A heart can’t literally race, but it creates more emotional connect with the readers.

Rules of Personification 

1. Personification is always figurative; it's not intended to be taken literally.

For example: "The wind was howling" doesn't mean the wind literally has a vocal cord like a human; it's meant to convey the sound of the wind.

2. Personification uses human qualities or behaviors that would be appropriate for the object or concept being personified.

For example: “The snow painted a delicate white picture on the ground” personifies snow as a human who can paint.

    3. Clear and concise personification enables the reader to easily understand the human characteristics being attributed.

For example: “Life is a teacher” directly personifies life as a teacher and teaches us many lessons. 

    4. Personification should make a concept more relatable by enhancing imagery.

 For example: “This city never sleeps” creates an image of a bustling city in a reader’s mind when we personify it as human who is always on the go and has no time to sleep.

    5. Personification is generally not used for formal essays, professional writing, or technical documents. It's more common in creative writing, poetry, and everyday conversation.

Also Read: Articles in English Grammar

While in most cases, Personification is used to enhance imagery and description, there are some cases or contexts where Personification has unconventional application. Let’s have a look at these special cases:

Reverse Personification 

This tosses the concept of Personification that assigns non-human traits to human beings. Reverse personification can be used to explore themes or create thought-provoking narratives. For example:

• She is as tall as a tree.
• He has a heart of stone.

Legal and Historical Context

Legal documents or historical accounts use personification to refer to entities like nations or institutions. For example:

• The state sued the corporation for damages.

Personification in Advertising

Many brands use personification in their ads, giving their products or characters human qualities for better connection with the audiences. For example:

• Chester Cheetah for Cheetos.

Also Read: Prepositions Rules and Structure

Below are some tips by which you can use Personification efficiently in English grammar:

Understand the Purpose 

Personification can be used to make descriptions more interesting, and to create a stronger emotional connection between the reader and the text.

Create Vivid Imagery

Students can use sensory details to describe how the personified subject looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes, making it more engaging for the reader. For example:

• The storm swallowed everything in its path like a hungry monster.
• Drops of sweat swam down the girl’s forehead as he ran quickly.

Use Verbs Carefully

Choosing the right verbs that describe your actions accurately is very important to support personification in your sentence.

Keep it Concise

Overuse of personification or extra-long and poetic descriptions, can be distracting.

Also Read: 

• Paraphrasing Meaning, Tips and more
• Subject and Predicate in English language 

The easiest way to identify personification in a sentence is to look for examples that attribute human characteristics, emotions, or actions to something that is not human, like animals, objects, or abstract concepts.

In a simple language, look for sentences that make something non-human seem like a person. For example,

• The wind whispered secrets
• The sun smiled down on the town

Also Read: Precis Writing Tips in English Grammar