Check out this overview of metaphors and similes by Grammar.net.

From: www.grammar.net/

Learning to use metaphors and similes is a great way to make your written and spoken language more interesting, but first you have to know what these are and what the difference is between the two.

First you should know; a simile is a metaphor, but not all metaphors are similes.

A metaphor is something that we call “a figure of speech” in English.  When using a metaphor you are transferring the sense, aspects, or ideas of one word to another word. For example let’s look at the metaphor from Shakespeare highlighted by Grammer.net.

“The world’s a stage, and the men and women are merely actors.”

In this metaphor the world is compared to a theater stage, life is considered to be a play, and all men and women are actors acting through their lives.

A simile is a type of metaphor in which a comparison is made using the word like (or a similar word).  For example let’s look at the common simile cited above:

“Edith’s hands are as cold as ice.”

This simile conveys the idea that Edith has hands that have the same attributes as ice: they are very cold.

Metaphors and similes are used to make language more interesting and colorful. You probably use these all the time without thinking about it in your native language, and maybe you use them some in English too. I would like to challenge you to try and use more metaphors and similes on purpose when speaking and writing English from now on.

Here are two simple examples of how you can use similes when talking about learning English:

My English teacher is as ____________________ as _________________________ .
Example: My teacher is as refreshing as a summer breeze.

Learning English is like ________________________.
Example: Learning English is like building a house, first you build the foundation then you build the frame, and finally you add the details.

Can you think of any metaphors or similes about learning English?