What is comparison examples. Comparison

To the question of what a comparison is in literature, one can briefly answer that it is a trope, that is, a special one. This technique is based on displaying certain properties of the described object or phenomenon by comparing these features with others, based on how others see or perceive them or the author himself.

Components of Comparisons

This path is characterized by the presence of three components: the described object or phenomenon, the object with which it is compared, and the basis for analogy, that is, a common feature. An interesting fact is that the name itself, an indication of this common feature, can be omitted in the text. But the reader or listener still perfectly understands and feels what the author of the statement wanted to convey to the interlocutor or reader.

However, the very understanding of the definition, which explains what a comparison is in the literature, does not yet give a complete picture without examples. And here a clarification immediately arises: with the help of what parts of speech and in what forms do the authors form these tropes?

Types of comparisons in the literature for nouns

Several types of comparisons can be distinguished.


Mode of action comparisons in the literature

Typically, such constructions involve verbs and adverbs, nouns or whole phrases and


Why are comparisons needed in literature?

Having dealt with the question of what a comparison is in literature, it is necessary to understand: are they needed? To do this, you need to do a little research.

Here is one that uses comparisons: “The dark forest stood as if after a fire. The moon was hiding behind the clouds, as it covers her face with a black scarf. The wind seems to have fallen asleep in the bushes.

And here is the same text, in which all comparisons were removed. “The dark forest stood. The moon was hiding behind the clouds. Wind". In principle, the meaning itself is conveyed in the text. But how much more figuratively the picture of the night forest is presented in the first version than in the second!

Are comparisons necessary in ordinary speech?

Some may think that comparisons are necessary only for writers and poets. But ordinary people in their ordinary lives do not need them at all. This statement is absolutely false!

At the doctor’s appointment, the patient, describing his feelings, will definitely resort to comparisons: “The heart hurts ... It’s like it’s cutting with a knife, otherwise it’s like someone is squeezing it into a fist ...” Grandmother, explaining to her granddaughter how to make dough for pancakes, is also forced to compare : "You add water until the dough becomes like thick sour cream." Mom tiredly pulls the excessively amused baby: “Stop jumping like a hare!”

Probably, many will object that the article is devoted to comparisons in the literature. What is our common speech? Be proud, the townsfolk: many people speak using literary speech. Therefore, even vernacular is one of the layers of literature.

Comparisons in the highly specialized literature

Even technical texts cannot do without comparisons. For example, in order not to repeat the process already described above in the recipe for cooking fried fish, for short, the author often writes: "Fish should be fried in the same way as cutlets."

Or in a manual for people who master the basics of designing from plywood or wood, you can find the phrase: “The screws are screwed in with a drill in the same way as they are unscrewed. Just before work, you should set it to the desired mode.

Comparisons are a necessary technique in the literature of various directions. The ability to use them correctly distinguishes a cultured person.

Definition and ways of creating comparisons in the Russian language and literature: in detail with examples.

In this article, we will talk about what comparison is in the Russian language and literature and how to use it with examples.

Comparison in Russian language and literature: definition

Russian fiction is melodious, beautiful and filled with gentle, vivid, tenacious comparisons, which gives the text liveliness, interest and helps the reader to “see” what they read.

Comparison in the Russian language and literature is a clever artistic pictorial device, with the help of which, in the description of one object, not only the characteristics of the object are used, but also its comparison with other objects. Simply put, this is a technique that is used to compare two objects in their direct meaning. For example, a comparison of the flexibility of a girl with a swan, which swims so beautifully and subtly in a pond, or the famous Russian expression "The leaves are yellow, like gold."

But do not confuse the comparison with metaphors, since the metaphor has a deeper and more sacred meaning. Let's go back to the example of the girl and the swan. If we compare the flexibility of the article, then this comparison, if we say that a girl and a guy are faithful to each other, like a pair of swans, then this is already a metaphor.

Comparison in Russian language and literature: ways of creating

We examined what a comparison is in the Russian language and literature, and in order to find it in the literature, and even more so to actively use this artistic technique in the Russian language, we propose to get acquainted with the ways of creating comparisons.

So, there are only four ways to create a comparison in the Russian language and literature:

  • When adding unions suitable for these purposes: what, as, as if, as if, exactly, than. For clarity, we immediately give vivid examples. In the collected works of Pushkin, in the Songs of the Western Slavs, Alexander Sergeevich writes "He ran faster than a horse, Stirrups with sharp stings." That is, Alexander Sergeevich compares the speed of a person's running with the speed of a horse. Another striking example "Her eyes were blue as the sky, and his eyes are black as mist";
  • When adding words in instrumental form. Thanks to this technique, we received a lot of vivid descriptions that create instant images of the heroes of the works. A striking example was the work "Sasha" by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, in which he wrote "Farewell tears poured from the chopped old birch in a hail." We immediately clearly see that very staggering birch tree with a chopped trunk, from which juice flows, compared with human tears;
  • When adding an adjective or adverb in comparative form. This form is used to maximize the comparison effect. Ivan Andreevich Krylov actively used this technique in fables, and as a result, we read funny, bright and interesting fables that both children and adults like. For example, “There is no beast stronger than a cat”;
  • The most common technique that schoolchildren use in their essays, as it is one of the simplest - when adding the words similar, similar, similar. This method is called lexical. The simplest and most accessible example is the quote by Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov "He looked like a clear evening."

As you can see, the comparison technique is quite simple, and you have not only encountered it thousands of times before, but also used it yourself. And in conclusion, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the video lesson on this topic.

Video: USE. Rus. lang. Comparison (Question 24)

What is a comparison in Russian (examples and definitions)?

    Comparison- This is a special literary device based on a comparison of two objects or phenomena between which equalizing relations can be established. With the help of comparison, artistic speech becomes more vivid and expressive, the character of the characters is revealed most fully.

    Comparisons are created in the literature in several ways:

    With comparative conjunctions as if, as if, exactly etc.

    Instrumental form.

    The comparative degree of an adjective or adverb.

    With the help of words similar And like.

    Some comparisons, due to frequent use, have become stable expressions, therefore, from comparisons, they turned into phraseological units. For example:

    Comparison in Russian means the comparison of various objects or phenomena in order to explain the object with another object or one phenomenon with another phenomenon. In other words, comparison means the likening of one object to another by identifying common features or features.

    Here are some examples:

    Sunny smile - here the smile is compared with the sun, meaning the same bright, warm.

    His eyes are as deep as the sea - the eyes are compared to the depths of the sea;

    She is as beautiful as a May rose - she is compared to a May rose.

    In russian language comparisons(lat. comparatio) is one of the artistic stylistic devices designed to more fully express one's thoughts, so that the reader vividly imagines the pictures and events described. This is likening, contrasting two different objects, in order to then assert that they are similar or different, revealing their common features.

    1.Simple Comparison Method- with the use of words: as, exactly, as if, as if, as if.

    Rose petals are red in the snow, How drops of blood.

    E eyes were shining as if diamonds.

    She was so thin like reed.

    The face was so white exactly carved from marble.

    2.Indirect comparison method(used with a noun in the instrumental case)

    He lived hamster- Sun pulled into his mink. Compare: He lived, How hamster. those. the previous words are not applied, but implied.

    3.Unionless comparisons:

    My home is my castle.

    4.Comparison by metaphor(Used in a figurative sense of the expression).

    A. Typical metaphor- We read from A. Blok The streams of my poems run - poems are called streams.

    B. Negative metaphor- More often in ancient Russian epics, songs and tales - It’s not thunder that rattles, it’s not a mosquito squeaks, it’s godfather dragging pike perch to godfather.

    IN. Comparisons - set phrases - comparisons:

    Sweet as honey, sour as vinegar, bitter as pepper.

    G. Comparisons with animals:

    Line M.Yu. Lermontov: Harun ran faster than a doe, faster than a hare from an eagle

    D. Comparisons - frightening visual images:

    It looks like fate, you are a market butcher, whose knife is bloodied from tip to shank (Khakani).

    The writer's talent is manifested in the ability to use comparisons, and therefore one has bright pictures, while the other has incoherent babble.

    It is the process of comparing several objects and their qualities/characteristics. For example, in literature it is often used to give the story even more expressiveness.

    There are several types of comparisons (for example, with the help of unions AS, AS, etc.; with the help of metaphors, etc.):

    For example,

    He is strong as a bull.

    Comparison in any language (and in Russian - in particular) is, in essence, rhetorical figure, which is formed by various linguistic primas. This term can be called both linguistic and literary at the same time. Any trope, including comparison, is studied in vocabulary, but is also used in spoken language, and in any other styles; and in fiction.

    Students can explain it like this:

    In order to figuratively and beautifully compare two (or several) people, animals, two objects or two qualities, writers and poets use comparisons.

    Comparisons and metaphors are different language concepts, so they should not be confused. Otherwise we will make a mistake.

    Since the question has been sent to the zone of the Russian language, in particular syntax, then, considering comparisons, it is necessary now to dwell on the linguistic prima of comparison.

    Here are some of my examples with explanations:

  1. Natasha's cheeks turned pink, as if (as if, like, as if, as if, exactly) two apples (the usual, simplest comparison, using a comparing union).
  2. Natasha's cheeks looked like (looked like) two pink apples (the same simple comparison, but other parts of speech instead of unions).
  3. Natasha's cheeks turned pink with red apples (the object with which the comparison is being made is put in the instrumental case).
  4. Natasha's apple cheeks turned pink more and more (the two objects being compared are connected by a hyphen).
  5. Natasha's apple cheeks turned pinker than ever (an unusual definition is used for comparison purposes).

Comparison is a stylistic device in the language, when a phenomenon or concept is clarified, clarified by comparing it with another phenomenon or concept. Comparisons can be negative, expanded.

Examples of comparisons and ways to express them:

Comparison is a stylistic device that is based on a figurative comparison of states or several objects. Comparisons are very often used by writers in their creations and this very well expresses their subtext. For example, the words of A. S. Pushkin

Also in nature very well expressed and applied

Comparison- Identification of a common feature by comparing (likening) one phenomenon to another. Stylistic device in Russian language and literature. It is separated by commas in the letter. Comparison can be simple (as if, as if) or indirect.

Comparison in Russian is a stylistic device by which one can describe the properties of one object by comparing its qualities with another. There are various methods of comparison in Russian, for example, using degrees of qualitative adjectives:

  • positive degree (qualitative);
  • comparative (higher quality);
  • excellent (highest quality).

There is also a figurative comparison. An example of such a comparison can be found in books - this is when a certain object is compared with a certain image. For example: The weather is cold, like in winter. Here the word weather is a subject of comparison, but like in winter it is an image.

A comparison in Russian is a comparison in oral or written speech of two objects or phenomena that have common features. It can also be used to explain one phenomenon in terms of another.

Comparison examples.

One can talk endlessly about the beauty and richness of the Russian language. These arguments are just another reason to get involved in such a conversation. So, comparisons.

What is a comparison

In fact, this term is ambiguous. This fact is confirmed by the endless examples of comparison that we observe in everyday life. In colloquial speech, it is rather an assimilation of different objects, a statement that they are equal or similar.

In mathematics, the term "comparison" is intertwined with the similar concept of "relationship". Comparing numbers for equality or inequality, we find the difference between them.

Comparison is also called the process of comparing the similarities and differences, disadvantages and advantages of several objects. As examples show, comparisons in such sciences as philosophy, psychology, sociology are a kind of cognitive operations that underlie reasoning about the similarities and differences between the objects under study. With the help of comparisons, various characteristics of these objects or phenomena are revealed.

Comparison in the literature: definition and examples

Stylistic and literary comparisons have a slightly different meaning. These are figures of speech in which some phenomena or objects are likened to others according to some common feature. can be simple, then certain words are usually present in the turnover. Among them are: “like”, “as if”, “as if”, “exactly”. But there is also an indirect comparison method: in this case, the comparison is made using the noun в without a preposition. Example: “Onegin lived as an anchorite” (“Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin).

Comparisons and metaphors

Comparisons are inextricably linked with another literary concept, a metaphor - an expression used in a figurative sense. Actually, the metaphor is based on a comparison that is not directly expressed. For example, A. Blok's line "The streams of my poems run" is a typical metaphor (the word "streams" is used in a figurative sense). But this same line is also a comparison: the verses run like streams.

It is interesting to use metaphorical devices in the case of the so-called negative comparison. Examples of comparison can be easily found in epics. “Not two clouds converged in the sky, two daring knights converged” - in this sample of the old Russian epic, the similarity of formidable warriors with dark terrible clouds is simultaneously emphasized, and their identity is denied, and an absolutely amazing overall picture is drawn.

Negative comparisons, more characteristic of folk art and their folklore stylizations, play a special role in the perception of the artistic image. Here is a line from the work of A. Nekrasov: “It’s not the kennel who trumpets the oak tree, the ripped-head cackles - crying, stabbing and chopping firewood, a young widow.” The second part of the expression (Crying ...) is self-sufficient in itself, it fully conveys the required meaning. But only the combination of both parts of the sentence allows you to feel all the bitterness, all the tragedy of what happened.

Expressive language

Comparisons help explain concepts or phenomena by comparing them with other objects - sweet like honey, sour like vinegar. But the main goal is by no means to emphasize the characteristic properties of the object. The main thing is the figurative, most accurate expression of the author's thought, because one of the most powerful means of expressiveness is comparison. Examples from the literature brilliantly illustrate its role in shaping the image that the author needs. Here is a line of creation from M.Yu. Lermontov: "Garun ran faster than a fallow deer, faster than a hare from an eagle." One could simply say: "Harun ran very fast" or "Harun ran at great speed." But, being absolutely true in their essence, such phrases would not achieve even to a small extent the effect that is inherent in Lermontov's lines.

Peculiarities

Paying tribute to comparisons as powerful exponents of the peculiarities of Russian speech, many researchers were amazed at the rationality of these comparisons. It would seem, where does rationality? After all, no one requires special accuracy, literalness from comparisons! But here are dissimilar examples of comparison, strings belonging to different people. “There were fire-faced cannes here, like glasses of bloody wine” (N. Zabolotsky) and “Fate, you look like a market butcher, whose knife is bloodied from tip to handle” (Khakani). Despite the dissimilarity of these expressions, they are distinguished by a common feature. Both phrases tell about completely ordinary things (about red flowers, about a difficult human fate) and, written in a slightly different form, could easily be lost in any text. But the use of comparisons (“glasses of bloody wine”, “butcher's knife”) turned out to be exactly the touch that deliberately added special expressiveness and emotionality to simple words. This is probably why in songs and romantic poems, where the emotional mood is already strong, comparisons are even less common than in a realistic narrative.

Examples of comparisons in Russian

The Russian language is considered one of the most difficult. And at the same time, the creations of Russian classics in the world are recognized as the most striking, original, talented. It seems that there is an inextricable link between these facts. The difficulty of learning a language lies in the considerable number of features, possibilities, and rules present in it. But this also opens up huge scope for a talented writer who has managed to master cunning tricks. The Russian language is indeed very rich: it contains truly limitless possibilities that allow you to turn an ordinary word into a vivid visual image, make it sound in a new way, so that it remains in your memory forever. Poetic works are especially conducive to this. “Our life in old age is a worn out robe: it’s both shameful to wear it, and it’s a pity to leave it.” This line is an excellent example of the use of simile in literary creation.

About the work of A.S. Pushkin

The great poet was a recognized genius for mastering the most complex. The comparisons used in his poems and poems are striking in their surprise and at the same time accuracy and accuracy.

“His beaver collar is silvered with frosty dust” is a line from the poem “Eugene Onegin”. Only a few words, but a capital boulevard, covered with snow, and a young dandy going to the ball emerge before my eyes. And then there is the episode at the ball: “He came in: and the cork hit the ceiling, the fault of the comet splashed current.” If Pushkin had written that the lackey had uncorked a bottle of champagne, he would not have deviated from the truth. But would this picture of unusual, festive, sparkling fun then have surfaced so clearly?

And this is already from the poem "The Bronze Horseman": "And before the younger capital, old Moscow faded, like a porphyry-bearing widow before the new queen." Is it possible to convey more precisely that atmosphere of a certain patriarchy and even abandonment that reigned in Moscow after the city of Petra was named the capital of Russia? “Let the Finnish waves forget their enmity and captivity!” - this is about how the waters of the Neva were chained in granite. Yes, probably, this could have been stated without comparisons, but would the pictures drawn by the author appear so clearly before your eyes?

And more about Russian poetic creativity

There are plenty of wonderful examples of the use of comparative images in the work of other Russian poets. Amazing comparisons in Bunin's poem "Childhood" accurately convey the atmosphere of a hot summer day, the feeling of a child who enjoys the sun and the aromas of the forest. The author's sand is silk, the tree trunk is a giant, and the sun-drenched summer forest itself is solar chambers.

No less remarkable, although completely different examples are found in the works of other Russian masters of the word. Comparisons in Yesenin's poem "Good morning!" open the summer dawn to the reader. Golden stars are dozing, instead of river water there is a mirror of the backwater, there are green earrings on the birch trees, silver dews are burning, and nettles are dressed in bright mother-of-pearl. In fact, the whole poem is one big comparison. And how beautiful!

One can talk about comparisons in the work of S. Yesenin for a long time - before that they are all bright, imaginative and at the same time dissimilar. If in the work "Good morning" the atmosphere is light, joyful, pleasant, then when reading the poem "The Black Man" there is a feeling of heaviness, even catastrophe (it is not for nothing that it is considered a kind of author's requiem). And this atmosphere of hopelessness is also formed thanks to unusually accurate comparisons!

"The Black Man" is a tragically original poem. A certain black man who arose either in a dream or in the author's feverish delirium. Yesenin is trying to understand what kind of vision this is. And then a whole series of brilliant comparisons: “Just like a grove in September, alcohol showers brains”, “My head flaps its ears like a bird’s wings, it can no longer loom its legs on its neck”, “In December in that country the snow is pure to the devil, and blizzards start merry spinning wheels. You read these lines and see everything: a bright frosty winter, and great human despair.

Conclusion

You can express your thoughts in different ways. But for some, these are faded and dull phrases, or even completely incoherent babble, while for others, luxurious flowery pictures. Comparisons and others make it possible to achieve figurativeness of speech, both written and oral. And do not neglect this wealth.

Comparison

Comparison

Stylistic reception; likening one phenomenon to another, emphasizing their common feature. It is simple, and then it is expressed in a turnover with the words as, as if or as if: “Lazily and thoughtlessly, as if walking without a goal, there are sub-cloud oaks, and the dazzling blows of the sun's rays light up whole picturesque masses of leaves, throwing a shadow as dark as night on others ... ”(N.V. Gogol,“ Sorochinskaya Fair ”), - or indirectly, expressed by a noun in the form of instrumental case without a preposition: “Onegin lived as an anchorite ...” (A.S. Pushkin, “Eugene Onegin”). Often in artistic speech, comparative turns as a result of the application ellipse turn into metaphors.

Literature and language. Modern illustrated encyclopedia. - M.: Rosman. Under the editorship of prof. Gorkina A.P. 2006 .

Comparison

COMPARISON(Latin comparatio, German Gleichnis), as a term of poetics, denotes a comparison of the depicted object, or phenomenon, with another object according to a common feature for both of them, the so-called. tertium comparationis, that is, the third element of comparison. Comparison is often considered as a special syntactic form of expressing a metaphor, when the latter is connected with the object expressed by it through the grammatical link "like", "as if", "as if", "precisely", etc., and in Russian these conjunctions can be are omitted, and the subject of comparison is expressed in the instrumental case. “The streams of my poems run” (Block) - a metaphor, according to “my poems run like streams” or “my poems run in streams” - there would be comparisons. Such a purely grammatical definition does not exhaust the nature of comparison. First of all, not every comparison can be syntactically compressed into a metaphor. For example, “Nature amuses itself jokingly, like a carefree child” (Lermontov), ​​or an antithetical comparison in “The Stone Guest”: “The Spanish grandee, like a thief, Waits for the night and is afraid of the moon.” In comparison, moreover, it is significant separateness compared objects, which is externally expressed by a particle How and so on.; between the compared objects, the distance is felt, which is overcome in the metaphor. Metaphor, as it were, demonstrates identity, comparison-separation. Therefore, the image drawn for comparison easily unfolds into a completely independent picture, often associated in only one of some signs with the object that caused the comparison. Such are the notorious Homeric comparisons. The poet deploys them, as if forgetting and not caring about the objects that they should depict. Tertium comparationis only provides a pretext, an impetus for a diversion away from the main current of the story. Such is the favorite manner of Gogol. For example, he portrays the barking of dogs in the yard near Korobochka, and one of the voices of this orchestra evokes a widespread comparison: “all this was finally done by the bass, maybe an old man endowed with a hefty canine nature, because he wheezed like a singing double bass wheezes, when the concert is in full swing, the tenors rise on tiptoe from a strong desire to strike a high note, and everything that is, rushes to the top, throwing back its head, and he alone, thrusting his unshaven chin into his tie, crouching and dropping almost to the ground, lets the his note, from which the glass shakes and rattles. The separation of similar objects in comparison is especially clearly reflected in the special form characteristic of Russian and Serbian poetry. negative comparison. For example: "Not two clouds in the sky converged, two daring knights converged." Wed Pushkin: "Not a flock of ravens flocked On a pile of smoldering bones - Beyond the Volga at night near the fires of the daring gang gathered."

M. Petrovsky. Literary encyclopedia: Dictionary of literary terms: In 2 volumes / Edited by N. Brodsky, A. Lavretsky, E. Lunin, V. Lvov-Rogachevsky, M. Rozanov, V. Cheshikhin-Vetrinsky. - M.; L.: Publishing house L. D. Frenkel, 1925


Synonyms:

See what "comparison" is in other dictionaries:

    Cognitive. an operation underlying judgments about the similarity or difference of objects; by means of S. quantities come to light. and qualities. characteristics of objects, the content of being and cognition is classified, ordered and evaluated. Compare… … Philosophical Encyclopedia

    Comparison- COMPARISON (Latin comparatio, German Gleichnis), as a term of poetics, denotes a comparison of the depicted object, or phenomenon, with another object according to a common feature for both of them, the so-called. tertium comparationis, i.e., the third element of comparison. ... ... Dictionary of literary terms

    COMPARISON, comparisons, cf. 1. Action according to Ch. compare compare1. Comparison of a copy with the original. It's incomparable. || The result of this action is named, indicated similarities. Bad comparison. A witty comparison. What is it…… Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

    Verification, comparison, juxtaposition, identification (d) otstvlenie, assimilation, parallel. Wed… Synonym dictionary

    comparison- one of the logical operations of thinking. Tasks on S. objects, images, concepts are widely used in psychological studies of the development of thinking and its disorders. The grounds for S. are analyzed, to which a person uses, lightness ... ... Great Psychological Encyclopedia

    1. COMPARISON see Compare. 2. COMPARISON; COMPARE, I; cf. 1. to Compare. C. Slavic languages ​​with Germanic. By comparing with him, you lose a lot. 2. A word or expression containing the likening of one object to another, one situation to another ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    Comparison- Comparison ♦ Comparaison Comparison by linguistic means of two different objects, either to emphasize their similarity or difference, or, in poetry, to evoke the image of one by naming the other. If the comparison is implicit, we are talking about a metaphor... Philosophical Dictionary of Sponville

    The ratio between two integers a and b, meaning that the difference a b of these numbers is divisible by a given integer m, called the modulus of comparison; spelled a? b (mod m). For example, 2? 8(mod3), since 2 8 is divisible by 3... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

    COMPARISON, I, cf. 1. see compare. 2. A word or expression containing the likening of one object to another, one situation to another. witty s. Compared with whom (what), predl. with creative comparatively, comparing, comparing someone with something. with whom than ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

    English comparison; German Vergleich. The cognitive operation underlying the judgments about the similarity or difference of objects, with the help of a swarm, the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of objects, signs that determine their possible ... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

    comparison- COMPARISON operation of comparison of several objects, in order to determine the degree of their mutual similarity. It is applicable only to objects that have some common feature, considered as the basis of S. In the field of scientific research, S. ... ... Encyclopedia of Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

Books

  • Comparison of the concepts of isomer and homologue. Functional groups of classes of organic substances, . Table 1 sheet (vinyl). Art. B5-8670-001 Table Comparison of the concepts of isomer and homologue. Functional groups of classes of organic substances ...
  • Comparison of GARCH and HAR-RV Models for Forecasting Realized Volatility in the Russian Market, A. D. Aganin. The paper performs a multiple comparison of a large number of GARCH, ARFIMA and HAR-RV family models on data on the quality of a one-step forecast of realized volatility for one day…

In everyday life, we are constantly forced to compare various objects in a quantitative, qualitative or other aspect. Comparing numbers, determining which one is larger and which is smaller, is taught in mathematics lessons in elementary school.

However, comparisons appear to be used in the literature as well. Consider what comparison is and how it differs from other visual techniques.

Comparison is a widespread artistic technique that is used in literary works to increase the expressiveness and figurativeness of descriptions. It is based on comparing the described objects or phenomena with others according to some signs.

The author either conveys his own impressions of what he saw, or ascribes this to his heroes. As a rule, a comparison includes three mandatory components: the object or phenomenon itself, the object with which the comparison is being made, and some feature common to the compared objects.

Interestingly, the feature may not be mentioned in comparison, however, the context of the reader or listener still understands perfectly what is at stake.


Writers and poets have used comparisons in their speech since ancient times. We can find this literary device in the Odyssey, the Song of Roland, the Tale of Igor's Campaign, epic folk art, in almost every literary work that has survived to this day. Modern writers no less widely use comparisons in their works of various genres.

For human thinking, comparison is the most used and effective technique: we always make our judgment about something new based on a comparison with already known similar objects. Therefore, literary comparisons are always clear and convincing.

In the process of development of Russian literature, several types of comparisons were created: simple (union), unionless, negative, comparisons through the instrumental case, through the adverb and through the genitive case.

Comparison is no less widely used in ordinary colloquial speech. Every day we sweeten our phrases with dozens of comparisons, without even noticing it and without thinking about how the thought is formulated.

At the same time, philologists distinguish for adjectives two degrees of comparison comparative ( bigger, longer, taller etc.) and excellent ( largest, widest).

Both comparative and superlative degrees of comparison have a simple complex form. For the comparative degree, the simple form is formed with the help of suffixes -her or -to her (higher, faster), and a complex form - with the help of particles "more" or "less" ( tastier, less common).


For the superlative degree, the simple form of the adjective is formed using suffixes –aysh And –eysh (rarest, simplest). The complex superlative form is distinguished by particles "least", "most" and "most" ( least desirable, most difficult, most beautiful).

Simple comparison: fast as lightning, light as fluff.

Unionless comparison: house is a full cup, your tongue is your enemy.

Negative comparison: not a mouse, not a frog, but an unknown animal.

Comparison through instrumental case: rider flying like a bird.

Comparison through an adverb: to live with wolves - howl like a wolf.

Comparison through the genitive case: ride with the speed of the wind.

Metaphor is based on the transfer of the qualities of one phenomenon or object to another: the sunset was blazing, a hail of bullets, the quiet whisper of the waves .

At the same time, comparison consists in likening one object to another according to certain characteristics: the sunset is bright, like a blazing flame, the bullets flew in a hail, the sound of the waves is quiet, like a whisper .

In fact, it is a hidden comparison: while the comparison calls for comparing some qualities of two objects or phenomena, the epithet does this in a hidden artistic form.


Examples:

steel gray eyes - comparison, steel eyes - an epithet;

grinned like a wolf - comparison, wolf mouth - an epithet.

In life, we constantly resort to comparisons. This is how we do in the store, comparing products before making a choice. We compare the actions of people, their qualities, films, music, etc. And this is right, because everything is known in comparison. But what is a comparison?

Term meanings

The term comparison is used in a variety of fields. In everyday life, comparison is the identification of qualities according to the principle of assimilation, finding out whether objects are equal to each other, which one is better. Often "comparison" is defined as a way of revealing the unity and diversity of things. In mathematics, this is a comparison of numbers for equality and inequality (more-less). Thus, the main meaning of the word "comparison" is the process of comparing the various properties of two objects, both qualitative and quantitative.

The term "comparison" is used in psychology, sociology, philosophy. In psychology, there are special comparison tests to determine the degree of development of mental abilities. "Comparison" in philosophy is a cognitive operation, with the help of which the characteristics of processes and phenomena are revealed.

Comparison in literature

But the most emotionally we perceive literary comparisons. What is comparison in literature? This is an artistic technique (or tropes) based on comparing the qualities of phenomena, objects or people, as well as likening one object (phenomenon) to another. The purpose of literary comparison is to reveal the image more fully through common features. In comparison, both compared objects are always mentioned, although the common feature itself may be omitted.

Types of literary comparisons

  1. Simple comparisons are turns expressed with the help of unions: as if, exactly, as if, as if, directly, etc. (“Fast, like a deer”).

    Like a tiger, life tears the body with its claws,

    And the sky took the mind and heart into fetters ...

    (Baba Tahir).

  2. Unionless - through a compound nominal predicate.

    So thin is my summer robe -

    Wings of a cicada!

  3. Negative - one object is opposed to another. Often used in folk expressions (“It’s not the wind that bends the branch, It’s not the oak forest that makes noise”).
  4. Comparisons "creative" - ​​using a noun in the instrumental case.

    Joy crawls like a snail

    The mountain has a frantic run ...

    (V. Mayakovsky).

  5. Comparison using the adverb of the mode of action (“Screamed like an animal”).
  6. Genitives - with the help of a noun in the genitive case ("Running at the speed of the wind", in contrast to "Running at the speed of the wind").

So, you have learned what a comparison is, examples of literary comparisons. But comparative turns are widely used not only in literature, but also in scientific, colloquial speech. Without comparisons, our speech would be less figurative and vivid.

15.10.2019

What is a comparison in Russian (examples and definitions)? Comparison

In life, we constantly resort to comparisons. This is how we do in the store, comparing products before making a choice. We compare the actions of people, their qualities, films, music, etc. And this is right, because everything is known in comparison. But what is a comparison?

Term meanings

The term comparison is used in a variety of fields. In everyday life, comparison is the identification of qualities according to the principle of assimilation, finding out whether objects are equal to each other, which one is better. Often "comparison" is defined as a way of revealing the unity and diversity of things. In mathematics, this is a comparison of numbers for equality and inequality (more-less). Thus, the main meaning of the word "comparison" is the process of comparing the various properties of two objects, both qualitative and quantitative.

The term "comparison" is used in psychology, sociology, philosophy. In psychology, there are special comparison tests to determine the degree of development of mental abilities. "Comparison" in philosophy is a cognitive operation, with the help of which the characteristics of processes and phenomena are revealed.

Comparison in literature

But the most emotionally we perceive literary comparisons. What is comparison in literature? This is an artistic technique (or tropes) based on comparing the qualities of phenomena, objects or people, as well as likening one object (phenomenon) to another. The purpose of literary comparison is to reveal the image more fully through common features. In comparison, both compared objects are always mentioned, although the common feature itself may be omitted.

Types of literary comparisons

  1. Simple comparisons are turns expressed with the help of unions: as if, exactly, as if, as if, directly, etc. (“Fast, like a deer”).

    Like a tiger, life tears the body with its claws,

    And the sky took the mind and heart into fetters ...

    (Baba Tahir).

  2. Unionless - through a compound nominal predicate.

    So thin is my summer robe -

    Wings of a cicada!

  3. Negative - one object is opposed to another. Often used in folk expressions (“It’s not the wind that bends the branch, It’s not the oak forest that makes noise”).
  4. Comparisons "creative" - ​​using a noun in the instrumental case.

    Joy crawls like a snail

    The mountain has a frantic run ...

    (V. Mayakovsky).

  5. Comparison using the adverb of the mode of action (“Screamed like an animal”).
  6. Genitives - with the help of a noun in the genitive case ("Running at the speed of the wind", in contrast to "Running at the speed of the wind").

So, you have learned what a comparison is, examples of literary comparisons. But comparative turns are widely used not only in literature, but also in scientific, colloquial speech. Without comparisons, our speech would be less figurative and vivid.

To the question of what a comparison is in literature, one can briefly answer that it is a trope, that is, a special one. This technique is based on displaying certain properties of the described object or phenomenon by comparing these features with others, based on how others see or perceive them or the author himself.

Components of Comparisons

This path is characterized by the presence of three components: the described object or phenomenon, the object with which it is compared, and the basis for analogy, that is, a common feature. An interesting fact is that the name itself, an indication of this common feature, can be omitted in the text. But the reader or listener still perfectly understands and feels what the author of the statement wanted to convey to the interlocutor or reader.

However, the very understanding of the definition, which explains what a comparison is in the literature, does not yet give a complete picture without examples. And here a clarification immediately arises: with the help of what parts of speech and in what forms do the authors form these tropes?

Types of comparisons in the literature for nouns

Several types of comparisons can be distinguished.

Mode of action comparisons in the literature

Typically, such constructions involve verbs and adverbs, nouns or whole phrases and



Why are comparisons needed in literature?

Having dealt with the question of what a comparison is in literature, it is necessary to understand: are they needed? To do this, you need to do a little research.

Here is one that uses comparisons: “The dark forest stood as if after a fire. The moon was hiding behind the clouds, like a shy girl covering her face with a black scarf. The wind seems to have fallen asleep in the bushes.

And here is the same text, in which all comparisons were removed. “The dark forest stood. The moon was hiding behind the clouds. Wind". In principle, the meaning itself is conveyed in the text. But how much more figuratively the picture of the night forest is presented in the first version than in the second!

Are comparisons necessary in ordinary speech?

Some may think that comparisons are necessary only for writers and poets. But ordinary people in their ordinary lives do not need them at all. This statement is absolutely false!

At the doctor’s appointment, the patient, describing his feelings, will definitely resort to comparisons: “The heart hurts ... It’s like it’s cutting with a knife, otherwise it’s like someone is squeezing it into a fist ...” Grandmother, explaining to her granddaughter how to make dough for pancakes, is also forced to compare : "You add water until the dough becomes like thick sour cream." Mom tiredly pulls the excessively amused baby: “Stop jumping like a hare!”

Probably, many will object that the article is devoted to comparisons in the literature. What is our common speech? Be proud, the townsfolk: many people speak using literary speech. Therefore, even vernacular is one of the layers of literature.

Comparisons in the highly specialized literature

Even technical texts cannot do without comparisons. For example, in order not to repeat the process already described above in the recipe for cooking fried fish, for short, the author often writes: "Fish should be fried in the same way as cutlets."

Or in a manual for people who master the basics of designing from plywood or wood, you can find the phrase: “The screws are screwed in with a drill in the same way as they are unscrewed. Just before work, you should set it to the desired mode.

Comparisons are a necessary technique in the literature of various directions. The ability to use them correctly distinguishes a cultured person.

Literature (real) is the true art of creating texts, the creation of a new object through words. As in any complex craft, literature has its own special techniques. One of them is "comparison". With its help, for greater expressiveness or ironic contrast, certain objects, their qualities, people, and traits of their character are compared.

The kettle, with its upturned trunk, puffed on the stove like a young elephant rushing to a watering place..

─ Ironic assimilation of a small inanimate object to a large animal by comparing the long spout of a teapot and an elephant's trunk.

Comparison: definition

There are at least three definitions of comparison in the literature.

For a literary text, the first definition will be more correct. But the most talented authors of fiction successfully work with the second and third definitions, the role of comparison in the text is so great. Examples of comparisons in literature and folklore of the last two types:

He is stupid as an oak, but cunning as a fox.

Unlike Afanasy Petrovich, Igor Dmitrievich was thin in physique, like a mop handle, just as straight and elongated.

In growth, the pygmies of the Congo Delta are like children, their skin is not black like that of Negroes, but yellowish, like fallen leaves.

In the latter case, along with the use of "negative comparison" ("not"), direct similitude ("as if") is combined.

The Russian language is so rich that the authors of works of art use a huge number of types of comparisons. Philologists can only roughly classify them. Modern philology distinguishes the following two main types of comparison and four more comparisons in fiction.

  • Direct. In this case, comparative turns (conjunctions) “as if”, “like”, “exactly”, “as if” are used. He bared his soul in front of him, as a nudist exposes his body on the beach.
  • Indirect. With this assimilation, prepositions are not used. The hurricane swept all the garbage from the streets with a giant janitor.

In the second sentence, the compared noun (“hurricane”) is used in the nominative case, and the compared (“janitor”) is used in the instrumental. Other types:

As far back as the 19th century, the philologist and Slavist M. Petrovsky singled out “Homeric” or “epic” assimilation from detailed comparisons in literature. In this case, the author of the literary text, not caring about brevity, expands the comparison, digressing from the main storyline, from the compared subject as far as his imagination allows. Examples are easy to find in the Iliad or postmodernists.

Ajax rushed at the enemies, like a starving lion at the frightened, huddled, lost shepherd sheep, which were left without protection, defenseless, like children without supervision, and are only able to timidly moan and back away in fear of the lion's thirst for blood and murder, which seizes the predator like madness, intensifying when he senses the horror of the doomed...

It is better not to resort to the epic type of comparisons for a novice writer of literary texts. The young writer must wait until his literary prowess and sense of artistic harmony have grown. Otherwise, an inexperienced beginner himself will not notice how, winding one on top of the other, like threads from different balls, such “free associations” will carry him away from the plot of his main narrative, creating semantic confusion. So comparisons in a literary text can not only simplify the understanding of the described subject (a tiger is a huge predatory cat), but also confuse the narration.

Comparison in verse

The role of literary comparison in poetry is especially important. The poet uses the richness of the language to create a unique and aesthetically valuable work of art, or rather to convey his idea to the reader.

We are often hard and bad

From the tricks of a tricky fate,

But we, with the obedience of camels

We carry our humps.

With these lines, the poet explains to the reader his own idea that most of the troubles that happen in life are natural, like camels’ humps, that sometimes you just can’t get rid of them, but you just need to “carry” them for some time.

Without you, no work, no rest:

are you a woman or a bird?

After all, you are like a creature of air,

"Vozdushnitsa" - darling!

In most poems, the authors use comparisons to create a bright, beautiful, easy-to-remember image. Most of these colorful comparisons are in the texts of N. Gumilyov, Mayakovsky. But I. Brodsky remains an unsurpassed master of the use of detailed comparisons in artistic literary versification.

Comparisons are also used in spoken language. When writing any text, even a school essay, one cannot do without comparisons. So you need to firmly remember a few rules of punctuation of the literary Russian language. Commas are placed before comparative phrases with the words:

  • as if
  • as if
  • as if,
  • like,
  • exactly

So when you write:

  • He was taller than the teenager she remembered.
  • The day flared up quickly and hot, like a fire into which gasoline was suddenly splashed.

─ in these situations, do not hesitate, commas are necessary. Much more problems await you with the "how" union. The fact is that, even if the “how” particle is part of a comparative turnover, a comma before it is not needed if:

It can be replaced with a dash. Steppe like a sea of ​​grass.

This union is part of a stable phraseological unit. Faithful like a dog.

The particle is included in the predicate. For me the past is like a dream.

The conjunction, within the meaning of the sentence, is replaced by an adverb or a noun. He looked like a wolf possible substitutions: looked like a wolf , looked like a wolf .

Where else do you need commas

According to the rules of punctuation, commas are not needed before “how” and when it is preceded by adverbs or particles in a sentence:

It's time to end, midnight seems to have struck.

Not separated by commas "as" if it is preceded by a negative particle.

He looked at the new gate not like a ram.

So when you use similes to spruce up or make your text clearer, remember the tricky "how" particle and punctuation rules, and you'll be fine!

One can talk endlessly about the beauty and richness of the Russian language. These arguments are just another reason to get involved in such a conversation. So, comparisons.

What is a comparison

In fact, this term is ambiguous. This fact is confirmed by the endless examples of comparison that we observe in everyday life. In colloquial speech, it is rather an assimilation of different objects, a statement that they are equal or similar.

In mathematics, the term "comparison" is intertwined with the similar concept of "relationship". Comparing numbers for equality or inequality, we find the difference between them.

Comparison is also called the process of comparing the similarities and differences, disadvantages and advantages of several objects. As examples show, comparisons in such sciences as philosophy, psychology, sociology are a kind of cognitive operations that underlie reasoning about the similarities and differences between the objects under study. With the help of comparisons, various characteristics of these objects or phenomena are revealed.

Comparison in the literature: definition and examples

Stylistic and literary comparisons have a slightly different meaning. These are figures of speech, stylistic devices in which some phenomena or objects are likened to others according to some common feature. The comparison method can be simple, then certain words are usually present in the turnover. Among them are: “like”, “as if”, “as if”, “exactly”. But there is also an indirect method of comparison: in this case, the comparison is made using a noun in the instrumental case without a preposition. Example: “Onegin lived as an anchorite” (“Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin).

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Comparisons and metaphors

Comparisons are inextricably linked with another literary concept, a metaphor - an expression used in a figurative sense. Actually, the metaphor is based on a comparison that is not directly expressed. For example, A. Blok's line "The streams of my poems run" is a typical metaphor (the word "streams" is used in a figurative sense). But this same line is also a comparison: the verses run like streams.

It is interesting to use metaphorical devices in the case of the so-called negative comparison. Examples of comparison can be easily found in epics. “Not two clouds converged in the sky, two daring knights converged” - in this sample of the old Russian epic, the similarity of formidable warriors with dark terrible clouds is simultaneously emphasized, and their identity is denied, and an absolutely amazing overall picture is drawn.

Negative comparisons, more characteristic of folk art and their folklore stylizations, play a special role in the perception of the artistic image. Here is a line from the work of A. Nekrasov: “It’s not the kennel who trumpets the oak tree, the ripped-head cackles - crying, stabbing and chopping firewood, a young widow.” The second part of the expression (Crying ...) is self-sufficient in itself, it fully conveys the required meaning. But only the combination of both parts of the sentence allows you to feel all the bitterness, all the tragedy of what happened.

Expressive language

Comparisons help explain concepts or phenomena by comparing them with other objects - sweet like honey, sour like vinegar. But the main goal is by no means to emphasize the characteristic properties of the object. The main thing is the figurative, most accurate expression of the author's thought, because one of the most powerful means of expressiveness is comparison. Examples from the literature brilliantly illustrate its role in shaping the image that the author needs. Here is a line of creation from M.Yu. Lermontov: "Garun ran faster than a fallow deer, faster than a hare from an eagle." One could simply say: "Harun ran very fast" or "Harun ran at great speed." But, being absolutely true in their essence, such phrases would not achieve even to a small extent the effect that is inherent in Lermontov's lines.

Peculiarities

Paying tribute to comparisons as powerful exponents of the peculiarities of Russian speech, many researchers were amazed at the rationality of these comparisons. It would seem, where does rationality? After all, no one requires special accuracy, literalness from comparisons! But here are dissimilar examples of comparison, strings belonging to different people. “There were fire-faced cannes here, like glasses of bloody wine” (N. Zabolotsky) and “Fate, you look like a market butcher, whose knife is bloodied from tip to handle” (Khakani). Despite the dissimilarity of these expressions, they are distinguished by a common feature. Both phrases tell about completely ordinary things (about red flowers, about a difficult human fate) and, written in a slightly different form, could easily be lost in any text. But the use of comparisons (“glasses of bloody wine”, “butcher's knife”) turned out to be exactly the touch that deliberately added special expressiveness and emotionality to simple words. This is probably why in songs and romantic poems, where the emotional mood is already strong, comparisons are even less common than in a realistic narrative.

Examples of comparisons in Russian

The Russian language is considered one of the most difficult. And at the same time, the creations of Russian classics in the world are recognized as the most striking, original, talented. It seems that there is an inextricable link between these facts. The difficulty of learning a language lies in the considerable number of features, possibilities, and rules present in it. But this also opens up huge scope for a talented writer who has managed to master cunning tricks. The Russian language is indeed very rich: it contains truly limitless possibilities that allow you to turn an ordinary word into a vivid visual image, make it sound in a new way, so that it remains in your memory forever. Poetic works are especially conducive to this. “Our life in old age is a worn out robe: it’s both shameful to wear it, and it’s a pity to leave it.” This line by P. Vyazemsky is an excellent example of the use of comparisons in literary work.

About the work of A.S. Pushkin

The great poet was a recognized genius in mastering the most complex literary techniques. The comparisons used in his poems and poems are striking in their unexpectedness and at the same time accuracy and accuracy.

“His beaver collar is silvered with frosty dust” is a line from the poem “Eugene Onegin”. Only a few words, but a capital boulevard, covered with snow, and a young dandy going to the ball emerge before my eyes. And then there is the episode at the ball: “He came in: and the cork hit the ceiling, the fault of the comet splashed current.” If Pushkin had written that the lackey had uncorked a bottle of champagne, he would not have deviated from the truth. But would this picture of unusual, festive, sparkling fun then have surfaced so clearly?

And this is already from the poem "The Bronze Horseman": "And before the younger capital, old Moscow faded, like a porphyry-bearing widow before the new queen." Is it possible to convey more precisely that atmosphere of a certain patriarchy and even abandonment that reigned in Moscow after the city of Petra was named the capital of Russia? “Let the Finnish waves forget their enmity and captivity!” - this is about how the waters of the Neva were chained in granite. Yes, probably, this could have been stated without comparisons, but would the pictures drawn by the author appear so clearly before your eyes?

And more about Russian poetic creativity

There are plenty of wonderful examples of the use of comparative images in the work of other Russian poets. Amazing comparisons in Bunin's poem "Childhood" accurately convey the atmosphere of a hot summer day, the feeling of a child who enjoys the sun and the aromas of the forest. The author's sand is silk, the tree trunk is a giant, and the sun-drenched summer forest itself is solar chambers.

No less remarkable, although completely different examples are found in the works of other Russian masters of the word. Comparisons in Yesenin's poem "Good morning!" open the summer dawn to the reader. Golden stars are dozing, instead of river water there is a mirror of the backwater, there are green earrings on the birch trees, silver dews are burning, and nettles are dressed in bright mother-of-pearl. In fact, the whole poem is one big comparison. And how beautiful!

One can talk about comparisons in the work of S. Yesenin for a long time - before that they are all bright, imaginative and at the same time dissimilar. If in the work "Good morning" the atmosphere is light, joyful, pleasant, then when reading the poem "The Black Man" there is a feeling of heaviness, even catastrophe (it is not for nothing that it is considered a kind of author's requiem). And this atmosphere of hopelessness is also formed thanks to unusually accurate comparisons!

"The Black Man" is a tragically original poem. A certain black man who arose either in a dream or in the author's feverish delirium. Yesenin is trying to understand what kind of vision this is. And then a whole series of brilliant comparisons: “Just like a grove in September, alcohol showers brains”, “My head flaps its ears like a bird’s wings, it can no longer loom its legs on its neck”, “In December in that country the snow is pure to the devil, and blizzards start merry spinning wheels. You read these lines and see everything: a bright frosty winter, and great human despair.

Conclusion

You can express your thoughts in different ways. But for some, these are faded and dull phrases, or even completely incoherent babble, while for others, luxurious flowery pictures. Comparisons and other artistic techniques make it possible to achieve figurative speech, both written and oral. And do not neglect this wealth.

In everyday life, we are constantly forced to compare various objects in a quantitative, qualitative or other aspect. Comparing numbers, determining which one is larger and which is smaller, is taught in mathematics lessons in elementary school.

However, comparisons appear to be used in the literature as well. Consider what comparison is and how it differs from other visual techniques.

Comparison is a widespread artistic technique that is used in literary works to increase the expressiveness and figurativeness of descriptions. It is based on comparing the described objects or phenomena with others according to some signs.

The author either conveys his own impressions of what he saw, or ascribes this to his heroes. As a rule, a comparison includes three mandatory components: the object or phenomenon itself, the object with which the comparison is being made, and some feature common to the compared objects.

Interestingly, the feature may not be mentioned in comparison, however, the context of the reader or listener still understands perfectly what is at stake.


Writers and poets have used comparisons in their speech since ancient times. We can find this literary device in the Odyssey, the Song of Roland, the Tale of Igor's Campaign, epic folk art, in almost every literary work that has survived to this day. Modern writers no less widely use comparisons in their works of various genres.

For human thinking, comparison is the most used and effective technique: we always make our judgment about something new based on a comparison with already known similar objects. Therefore, literary comparisons are always clear and convincing.

In the process of development of Russian literature, several types of comparisons were created: simple (union), unionless, negative, comparisons through the instrumental case, through the adverb and through the genitive case.

Comparison is no less widely used in ordinary colloquial speech. Every day we sweeten our phrases with dozens of comparisons, without even noticing it and without thinking about how the thought is formulated.

At the same time, philologists distinguish for adjectives two degrees of comparison comparative ( bigger, longer, taller etc.) and excellent ( largest, widest).

Both comparative and superlative degrees of comparison have a simple complex form. For the comparative degree, the simple form is formed with the help of suffixes -her or -to her (higher, faster), and a complex form - with the help of particles "more" or "less" ( tastier, less common).


For the superlative degree, the simple form of the adjective is formed using suffixes –aysh And –eysh (rarest, simplest). The complex superlative form is distinguished by particles "least", "most" and "most" ( least desirable, most difficult, most beautiful).

Simple comparison: fast as lightning, light as fluff.

Unionless comparison: house is a full cup, your tongue is your enemy.

Negative comparison: not a mouse, not a frog, but an unknown animal.

Comparison through instrumental case: rider flying like a bird.

Comparison through an adverb: to live with wolves - howl like a wolf.

Comparison through the genitive case: ride with the speed of the wind.

Metaphor is based on the transfer of the qualities of one phenomenon or object to another: the sunset was blazing, a hail of bullets, the quiet whisper of the waves .

At the same time, comparison consists in likening one object to another according to certain characteristics: the sunset is bright, like a blazing flame, the bullets flew in a hail, the sound of the waves is quiet, like a whisper .

In fact, it is a hidden comparison: while the comparison calls for comparing some qualities of two objects or phenomena, the epithet does this in a hidden artistic form.


Examples:

steel gray eyes - comparison, steel eyes - an epithet;

grinned like a wolf - comparison, wolf mouth - an epithet.

Literature (real) is the true art of creating texts, the creation of a new object through words. As in any complex craft, literature has its own special techniques. One of them is "comparison". With its help, for greater expressiveness or ironic contrast, certain objects, their qualities, people, and traits of their character are compared.

In contact with


The kettle, with its upturned trunk, puffed on the stove like a young elephant rushing to a watering place..

─ Ironic assimilation of a small inanimate object to a large animal by comparing the long spout of a teapot and an elephant's trunk.

Comparison: definition

There are at least three definitions of comparison in the literature.

For a literary text, the first definition will be more correct. But the most talented authors of fiction successfully work with the second and third definitions, the role of comparison in the text is so great. Examples of comparisons in literature and folklore of the last two types:

He is stupid as an oak, but cunning as a fox.

Unlike Afanasy Petrovich, Igor Dmitrievich was thin in physique, like a mop handle, just as straight and elongated.

In growth, the pygmies of the Congo Delta are like children, their skin is not black like that of Negroes, but yellowish, like fallen leaves.
In the latter case, along with the use of "negative comparison" ("not"), direct similitude ("as if") is combined.

The Russian language is so rich that the authors of works of art use a huge number of types of comparisons. Philologists can only roughly classify them. Modern philology distinguishes the following two main types of comparison and four more comparisons in fiction.

  • Direct. In this case, comparative turns (conjunctions) “as if”, “like”, “exactly”, “as if” are used. He bared his soul in front of him, as a nudist exposes his body on the beach.
  • Indirect. With this assimilation, prepositions are not used. The hurricane swept all the garbage from the streets with a giant janitor.

In the second sentence, the compared noun (“hurricane”) is used in the nominative case, and the compared (“janitor”) is used in the instrumental. Other types:

As far back as the 19th century, the philologist and Slavist M. Petrovsky singled out “Homeric” or “epic” assimilation from detailed comparisons in literature. In this case, the author of the literary text, not caring about brevity, expands the comparison, digressing from the main storyline, from the compared subject as far as his imagination allows. Examples are easy to find in the Iliad or postmodernists.

Ajax rushed at the enemies, like a starving lion at the frightened, huddled, lost shepherd sheep, which were left without protection, defenseless, like children without supervision, and are only able to timidly moan and back away in fear of the lion's thirst for blood and murder, which seizes the predator like madness, intensifying when he senses the horror of the doomed...
It is better not to resort to the epic type of comparisons for a novice writer of literary texts. The young writer must wait until his literary prowess and sense of artistic harmony have grown. Otherwise, an inexperienced beginner himself will not notice how, winding one on top of the other, like threads from different balls, such “free associations” will carry him away from the plot of his main narrative, creating semantic confusion. So comparisons in a literary text can not only simplify the understanding of the described subject (a tiger is a huge predatory cat), but also confuse the narration.

Comparison in verse

The role of literary comparison in poetry is especially important. The poet uses the richness of the language to create a unique and aesthetically valuable work of art, or rather to convey his idea to the reader.

We are often hard and bad

From the tricks of a tricky fate,

But we, with the obedience of camels

We carry our humps.

With these lines, the poet explains to the reader his own idea that most of the troubles that happen in life are natural, like camels’ humps, that sometimes you just can’t get rid of them, but you just need to “carry” them for some time.

Without you, no work, no rest:

are you a woman or a bird?

After all, you are like a creature of air,

"Vozdushnitsa" - darling!

In most poems, the authors use comparisons to create a bright, beautiful, easy-to-remember image. Most of these colorful comparisons are in the texts of N. Gumilyov, Mayakovsky. But I. Brodsky remains an unsurpassed master of the use of detailed comparisons in artistic literary versification.

Comparisons are also used in spoken language. When writing any text, even a school essay, one cannot do without comparisons. So you need to firmly remember a few rules of punctuation of the literary Russian language. Commas are placed before comparative phrases with the words:

  • as if
  • as if
  • as if,
  • like,
  • exactly

So when you write:

  • He was taller than the teenager she remembered.
  • The day flared up quickly and hot, like a fire into which gasoline was suddenly splashed.

─ in these situations, do not hesitate, commas are necessary. Much more problems await you with the "how" union. The fact is that, even if the “how” particle is part of a comparative turnover, a comma before it is not needed if:

It can be replaced with a dash. Steppe like a sea of ​​grass.

This union is part of a stable phraseological unit. Faithful like a dog.

The particle is included in the predicate. For me the past is like a dream.

The conjunction, within the meaning of the sentence, is replaced by an adverb or a noun. He looked like a wolf possible substitutions: looked like a wolf , looked like a wolf .

Where else do you need commas

According to the rules of punctuation, commas are not needed before “how” and when it is preceded by adverbs or particles in a sentence:

It's time to end, midnight seems to have struck.

Not separated by commas "as" if it is preceded by a negative particle.

He looked at the new gate not like a ram.
So when you use similes to spruce up or make your text clearer, remember the tricky "how" particle and punctuation rules, and you'll be fine!