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Personification: Giving Human Qualities to Things That Aren't Human

In one line: Personification is when a writer describes something that is not human, such as an object, the weather, an animal or an idea, as if it could act, think or feel like a person.

Why it works

Personification helps writing come alive. Instead of just saying 'the wind was strong', a writer might say 'the wind shoved me down the street', which lets the reader feel the wind's force. Spotting personification helps children understand the mood a writer is creating, and using it helps them make their own stories and poems more vivid. It is also one of the main types of figurative language, meaning words used in an imaginative way rather than their exact, everyday meaning.

Think of it like: Think of personification as putting a human costume on a thing. A kettle can't really scream, but if a writer dresses it up in human words like 'screamed', we picture it as a person who is upset and impatient. The costume is made of human actions, feelings or speech. (Where this breaks: A real costume covers the whole thing, but personification usually borrows just one or two human qualities, such as a single verb (an action word). Also, the costume is never meant to be believed: the writer is not saying the kettle really is alive, only helping us imagine it in a fresh way.)

Worked example

Find the personification in this sentence and explain its effect: 'The old car coughed and groaned as it climbed the steep hill.'

  1. Find the non-human thing being described: the car.
  2. Find the action and describing words linked to it: 'coughed' and 'groaned'.
  3. Ask: can a car really do this, or is it something a person does? Coughing and groaning are things people do when they are tired, ill or struggling.
  4. So the writer has given the car human actions. That is personification.
  5. Explain the effect: it makes the car seem old, tired and struggling, as if it is in pain going up the hill.

Answer: The words 'coughed' and 'groaned' personify the car, making it sound like a tired, struggling old person climbing the hill.

Common mistakes

  • Calling any sentence about an animal personification, such as 'The dog barked'; the fix is to check whether the action is something only a human does, like 'The dog sighed and complained about the rain'.
  • Mixing it up with a simile, such as 'The moon was like a lamp'; the fix is to remember that a simile compares using 'like' or 'as', while personification gives a thing human actions, feelings or speech.
  • Thinking personification needs words like 'he', 'she' or a name; the fix is to look for human-only verbs and feelings, such as 'the angry sea' or 'the clock whispered'.
  • Spotting the personification but not saying why it was used; the fix is to always add what it makes the reader picture or feel.

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Questions parents ask

What year do children learn about personification?

Children usually meet personification in Years 3 to 6 in the UK and Years 4 to 6 in Australia, often while reading and writing poetry. In the US it is typically taught around Grades 4 to 6 as part of figurative language. They then use it more confidently in their own writing in the early secondary years.

How can I help my child with personification at home?

Play a quick game: pick an everyday object, like the fridge or the washing machine, and ask your child what it would say or feel if it were a person. When reading together, pause on vivid sentences and ask, 'Can that thing really do that?' Then ask why the writer chose those words.

What is the difference between personification, a simile and a metaphor?

A simile compares two things using 'like' or 'as', and a metaphor says one thing is another. Personification gives human actions, feelings or speech to something that isn't human. Personification is often seen as a special kind of metaphor, so a sentence can sometimes be both.

Is it personification when animals talk in stories?

Yes, when animals speak, think or behave like people, they are being given human qualities. In stories where animals act like humans throughout, this is often called anthropomorphism, which is closely related. Ordinary animal actions, such as a cat purring, are not personification.