Kevin
December 27, 2021
Common Questions

Do you know what analogy grammar is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on analogy grammar, including the definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

What is analogy grammar?

According to Grammar Monster, an analogy is a figure of speech that compares things. This could take the form of a simile, metaphor, allegory, or even just a word analogy in which colons are used. The format of word analogies or verbal is ___:___ :: ___ : ___ and this is said, “blank is to blank as blank is to blank,” such as “baby duck : duckling :: baby cat : kitten.” The pronunciation of analogy is əˈnælədʒɪ.

According to Juliette Blevins, the analogical reasoning that underlies analogies requires the discovery of structural similarities between perceptually dissimilar elements. This cognitive process of synthesis within the notion of analogy and morphological analogy is important for studying the human mind and how it uses formal mechanisms to compare types of items. This has been studied in evolutionary phonology. Understanding analogical change is important to understand the core of human cognition as well as the purpose of explanation of the acquisition of analogy for developmental paradigms.

What are examples of analogy?

An analogy can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! The following sentences are examples of word analogies and other analogies from Your Dictionary and Grammar Monster that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Try to use the term analogy today or notice when someone else is using an analogy.

My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations. (Author John Green)

You are the wind beneath my wings.

“I am to dancing what Roseanne is to singing and Donald Duck to motivational speeches. I am as graceful as a refrigerator falling down a flight of stairs.” – Leonard Pitts, “Curse of Rhythm Impairment” Miami Herald, Sep. 28, 2009.

The water made a sound like kittens lapping. (Author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings)

It’s been a hard days night, and I’ve been working like a dog. (The Beatles)

Finding a good man is like finding a needle in a haystack

short : light :: long : heavy

Crazy like a fox

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun! (Playwright William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet)

That’s as useful as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic

He is a diamond in the rough.

“Dumb gorgeous people should not be allowed to use literature when competing in the pick-up pool. It’s like bald people wearing hats.” – Matt McGrath from the movie Broken Hearts Club.

In the Forrest Gump quotation “Life is like a box of chocolates”, the word chocolates is an allegoric reference to real-life situations.

Men are like bank accounts. More money equals more interest. (Anon)

As stubborn as a mule

All religions, arts, and sciences are branches of the same tree. (Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein)

Hope is the thing with feathers. (Poet Emily Dickinson)

Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better but the frog dies in the process – E.B White

“Withdrawal of U.S. troops will become like salted peanuts to the American public; the more U.S. troops come home, the more will be demanded.” – Henry Kissinger in a Memo to President Richard Nixon.

bees : hive :: bears : den

In George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”, Napoleon (a fierce-looking Berkshire boar) is an allegory of Joseph Stalin.

dirt : pig :: field : sheep

cells : biology :: solar system : astronomy

The stakeholders’ proposal would be the most profitable in the short term, but we’d be building our house on a flood plain.

hammer : nail :: comb : hair

That movie was a roller coaster ride of emotions

America is the great melting pot.

In “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, Aslan’s sacrifice, death and return into the story allegorically refer to Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection.

mansion : shack :: yacht : dinghy

As sly as a fox

Quick like a cat

Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. (Anon)

white : black :: up : down

Life is a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs.

Elderly American ladies leaning on their canes listed toward me like towers of Pisa. (Novelist Vladimir Nabokov)

chef : food :: sculptor : stone

The passengers arrive like molasses in January.

like : love :: dislike : hate

Mr. Neck storms into class, a bull chasing thirty-three red flags. (American artist Laurie Anderson)

“They crowded very close about him, with their hands always on him in a careful, caressing grip, as though all the while feeling him to make sure he was there. It was like men handling a fish which is still alive and may jump back into the water.” – George Orwell, “A Hanging.”

speak : sing :: walk : dance

“Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a rose petal down the Grand Canyon and waiting for the echo.” – Don Marquis.

My mother is the warden at my house.

“If you want my final opinion on the mystery of life and all that, I can give it to you in a nutshell. The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the safe.” Peter De Vries, Let Me Count the Ways.

tree : leaf :: flower : petal

As blind as a bat

A simile must match the tone of its surroundings. Writing a simile that isn’t funny on some level is quite hard. (Novelist Ned Beauman)

“… worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.” – Baz Luhrmann, “Everybody’s Free (to Wear Sunscreen).”

Dog : puppy :: cat : kitten

Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn. (Playwright William Shakespeare)

A singer? She’s a crow.

O my Luve is like a red, red rose/that’s newly sprung in June;/O my Luve is like the melody/that’s sweetly played in tune. (Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns)

Overall, an analogy compares one thing to another.

Sources: