Personification

Personification meaning

Personification is a figure of speech, where objects and notions are spoken of as having life and intelligence.

It is like objects having qualities of human beings. As if they (objects) have personality and qualities.

Example: The breeze kissed her cheeks.

Describing the breeze as “kissing her cheeks”, is an example of personification, as the breeze cannot kiss anyone. We are giving human attributes, such as “kissing”, to a non-living thing, like the “breeze”. This is called personification.

Personification uses

As all the other figures of speech, personification too, helps readers to think creatively and in an imaginative way. Personification is giving human characteristics like emotions and behaviors to things, animals or ideas.

It encourages the readers to imagine and to create a connection with the story or article being written. It hooks the readers to the story. As the writers attribute human characteristics, it helps the readers easily understand the idea or content the writer is trying to convey. Writers bring the sentence to life, thus helping the reader to connect with the sentence or story emotionally.

Personification examples

Example	Personified object	Human attribute applied
The candle flame was calm.	flame	calm
The fire burned down the house angrily.	fire	anger
The fire burned quietly in its fireplace.	fire	quiet
The roses in my garden smiled at me.	roses	smile
The leaves were in the shade and begged for sunlight.	leaves	begged
The moon watched me all night.	moon	watched
The lined-up houses looked at me.	houses	look
My clock sings every hour.	clock	sings
The flowers peeped out of the window.	flowers	peep
He grabbed the opportunity which knocked on his door.	opportunity	knock
The pizza came out happily out of the oven.	pizza	happy
The doughnuts kept calling me to eat them.	doughnuts	call
Summer came smiling and winter went sad.	summer, winter	smile and sad
The table trembled due to the earthquake.	table	tremble
The trees danced crazily due to the storm.	trees	dance
The village welcomed him happily.	village	welcome
My village is always sleeping.	village	sleep(quiet)
My village is always awake.	village	awake(busy)
The ice cream agreed with him, even though he was lactose intolerant.	ice cream	agreed
The desert sun shines angrily.	sun	anger
My washing machine sings after it completes its job.	washing machine	sings
The sunflowers shook their heads in the morning breeze.	sunflowers	shook
All the stars winked at me.	stars	wink
My arms cried after the weight lifting session.	arms	cry
His foot screamed after two hours of running.	foot	scream
Dates are good for the blood.	dates	good
My laptop died an hour before.	laptop	die
My calendar reminds me continuously.	calendar	reminds
My TV is working very hard since morning.	TV	work
The mall is busy right now.	mall	busy
My car doesn't like me.	car	like
Pictures speak more.	pictures	speak
The moon wished me good night	moon	wish
Her hands spoke to us.	hands	spoke
My ears were happy when I heard the good news.	ears	happy
The windows went sad when it was closed.	windows	sad
The walls were sick of the old paint.	walls	sick
The moon waited all night for the Sun to rise.	moon	wait
The fries swam in the oil.	fries	swam
His pants shouted at him to wash it.	pant	shout
The batteries went dead.	batteries	dead
The volcano went quiet after a week.	volcano	quiet
The wind whispered in her ears.	wind	whisper
The garage was hiding a secret.	garage	hiding
The tornado killed the entire village.	tornado	killed
The yoga mat was tired.	yoga mat	tired
The books begged him to read.	books	begged
The door jumped in his way.	door	jump
My couch is calling out to me.	couch	calling
The wind kept whistling all night.	wind	whistle
The meat sat in the freezer for a week.	meat	sat
The sink suffocated as it had too many vessels.	sink	suffocated
My hair is happy after the wash.	hair	happy
My car engine is happy after the oil change.	car engine	happy
My AC groans every time I switch it on.	AC	groans