Figurative comparisons examples in Russian. What is comparison in literature and Russian language
In everyday life, we are constantly forced to compare various objects in quantitative, qualitative or other aspects. Comparing numbers, determining which one is greater and which one is smaller, is taught in mathematics lessons in primary school schools.
However, it turns out that comparisons are also used in the literature. Let's consider what a comparison is and how it differs from other visual techniques.
Comparison is a widespread artistic device that is used in literary works to enhance the expressiveness and imagery of descriptions. It is based on comparing the described objects or phenomena with others according to some characteristics.
The author either conveys his own impressions of what he saw, or attributes it to his characters. 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 characteristic common to the objects being compared.
It is interesting that a feature may not be mentioned in comparison, however, based on the context, the reader or listener still understands perfectly well what is being said. 
Writers and poets have used comparisons in their speech since ancient times. We can find this one literary device in “The Odyssey”, “Song of Roland”, “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, epic folk art, in almost every literary work, which 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 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), non-union, negative, comparisons through the instrumental case, through an adverb and through Genitive.
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 two degrees of comparison for adjectives: comparative ( bigger, longer, taller etc.) and excellent ( biggest, widest).
Both comparative and superlative degrees of comparison have a simple complex form. For comparative degree the simple form is formed using suffixes -her or -to her (higher, faster), and a complex form - using 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 the particles “least”, “most” and “most” ( least desirable, most difficult, most beautiful).
Simple comparison: fast as lightning, light as feathers.
Non-union comparison: the house is a full cup, your tongue is your enemy.
Negative comparison: not a mouse, not a frog, but an unknown animal.
Comparison through the instrumental case: the rider flies like a bird.
Comparison through an adverb: to live with wolves - howl like a wolf.
Comparison through the genitive case: rush with the speed of the wind.
Metaphor is based on the transfer of 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, bullets fly like hail, the sound of the waves is quiet, like a whisper .
In essence, it is a hidden comparison: while a comparison calls for comparing some qualities of two objects or phenomena, an epithet does this in a hidden artistic form. 
Examples:
eyes as gray as steel – comparison, steel eyes – epithet;
bared his teeth like a wolf – comparison, wolfish grin of the mouth - epithet.
We can talk endlessly about the beauty and richness of the Russian language. These arguments are just another reason to join such a conversation. So, comparisons.
What is 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 a likening of different objects, a statement that they are equal or similar.
In mathematics, the term “comparison” is intertwined with the similar concept of “relation.” By comparing numbers for equality or inequality, we find the difference between them.
Comparison is also the process of comparing the similarities and differences, disadvantages and advantages of several objects. As examples show, comparisons in sciences such as philosophy, psychology, sociology are a kind of cognitive operations that underlie reasoning about the similarities and differences of the objects being studied. 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 characteristic. may be simple, then certain words are usually present in circulation. Among them are: “as”, “as if”, “as if”, “exactly”. But there is also an indirect method of comparison: in this case, comparison is made using the noun in without a preposition. Example: “Onegin lived as an anchorite” (“Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin).
Similes and metaphors
Comparisons are inextricably linked with another literary concept, metaphor - an expression used in a figurative sense. Actually, the basis of the metaphor is 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: poems flow 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, but two daring knights converged” - in this example 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 typical of works of folk art and their folklore stylizations, play a special role in the perception of the artistic image. Here is a line from A. Nekrasov’s work: “It’s not the huntsman who trumpets the oak wood, it’s the wild head who cackles—after crying, the young widow chops and chops wood.” The second part of the expression (After crying...) is self-sufficient in itself and 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.
Means of 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 not to emphasize characteristic properties subject. The main thing is the figurative, most accurate expression of the author’s thought, because one of the most powerful means expressiveness is a comparison. Examples from literature brilliantly illustrate its role in the formation of the image desired by the author. Here is a line of creation from M.Yu. Lermontov: “Harun ran faster than a deer, faster than a hare from an eagle.” You could simply say: “Harun ran very fast” or “Harun ran with high speed" But, being absolutely true in their essence, such phrases would not achieve even a small degree of 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, what does rationality have to do with it? After all, no one demands special accuracy or literalness from comparisons! But here are dissimilar comparison examples, strings belonging to different people. “There were fire-faced elands here, like glasses of bloody wine” (N. Zabolotsky) and “Fate, you look like a market butcher, whose knife is bloody from tip to handle” (Khakani). Despite all the dissimilarity of these expressions, what distinguishes them is general feature. Both phrases tell about completely ordinary things (about red flowers, about heavy human destiny) and, written in a slightly different form, could easily get 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 in simple words special expressiveness and emotionality. This is probably why in songs and romantic poems, where the emotional mood is already strong, comparisons are even less common than in realistic narratives.
Examples of comparisons in Russian
Russian language is considered one of the most difficult. And at the same time, the creations of domestic classics are recognized throughout the world as the most brilliant, original, and talented. It seems that there is an inextricable connection 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 enormous scope for a talented writer who has managed to master cunning techniques. 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 forever in memory. Poetic works are especially conducive to this. “Our life in old age is like a worn-out robe: it’s both a shame to wear it and a pity to leave it.” This line is an excellent example of the use of similes in literary work.
About the work of A.S. Pushkin
The great poet was a recognized genius in mastering the most complex. The comparisons used in his poems and poems are striking in their unexpectedness and at the same time accuracy and precision.
“His beaver collar is silvered with frosty dust” - this is a line from the poem “Eugene Onegin”. Only a few words, but the capital’s boulevard, covered with snow, and a young dandy heading to the ball emerge before my eyes. And then there’s the episode at the ball: “He walked in: and the cork hit the ceiling, the current flowed out from the comet.” If Pushkin had written that a footman had opened a bottle of champagne, he would not have deviated from the truth. But would this picture of extraordinary, festive, sparkling fun have emerged so clearly then?
And this is already from the poem “ Bronze Horseman": "And before the younger capital, old Moscow faded, like a porphyry-bearing widow before the new queen." Is it possible to more accurately convey the 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 ancient enmity and captivity!” - this is about how the waters of the Neva were encased in granite. Yes, probably, this could be stated without comparisons, but would the pictures drawn by the author appear so clearly before the eyes?
And more about Russian poetic creativity
There are plenty of wonderful examples of the use of comparative images in the works of other Russian poets. Amazing comparisons in Bunin's poem "Childhood" accurately convey the atmosphere of the roast summer day, the sensations of a child enjoying the sun and aromas of the forest. The author’s sand is like silk, the tree trunk is a giant, and the tree itself is bathed in the sun summer forest- these are solar chambers.
No less remarkable, although completely different examples are present in the works of other Russian wordsmiths. Comparisons in Yesenin’s poem “With Good morning! reveal to the reader a summer dawn. Golden stars are dozing instead river water- a mirror of the backwater, there are green catkins on the birch trees, silver dews are burning, and the nettles are dressed in bright mother-of-pearl. In fact, the whole poem is one great comparison. And how beautiful it is!
We can talk about comparisons in S. Yesenin’s works for a long time - they are all so bright, imaginative and at the same time different. If in the work “Good Morning” the atmosphere is light, joyful, pleasant, then when reading the poem “Black Man” there is a feeling of heaviness, even disaster (it is not for nothing that it is considered a kind of requiem by the author). And this atmosphere of hopelessness is also formed thanks to unusually accurate comparisons!
“The Black Man” is a tragically unique poem. A certain black man who appeared 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, the brain is showered with alcohol,” “My head flaps its ears like the wings of a bird, its legs can no longer loom on its neck,” “In December in that country the snow is pure as hell, and snowstorms make merry spinning wheels.” You read these lines and see everything: the bright frosty winter, and enormous human despair.
Conclusion
You can express your thoughts in different ways. But for some it is faded and dull phrases, or even completely incoherent babble, while for others it is luxurious, flowery paintings. Comparisons and others allow you to achieve figurative speech, both written and oral. And you should not neglect this wealth.
June 14, 2014We can talk endlessly about the beauty and richness of the Russian language. These arguments are just another reason to join such a conversation. So, comparisons.
What is 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 a likening of different objects, a statement that they are equal or similar.
In mathematics, the term “comparison” is intertwined with the similar concept of “relation.” By comparing numbers for equality or inequality, we find the difference between them.
Comparison is also the process of comparing the similarities and differences, disadvantages and advantages of several objects. As examples show, comparisons in sciences such as philosophy, psychology, sociology are a kind of cognitive operations that underlie reasoning about the similarities and differences of the objects being studied. 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 characteristic. The comparison method can be simple, then certain words are usually present in circulation. Among them are: “as”, “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).
Video on the topic
Similes and metaphors
Comparisons are inextricably linked with another literary concept, metaphor - an expression used in a figurative sense. Actually, the basis of the metaphor is 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: poems flow 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, but two daring knights converged” - in this example 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 typical of works of folk art and their folklore stylizations, play a special role in the perception of the artistic image. Here is a line from A. Nekrasov’s work: “It’s not the huntsman who trumpets the oak wood, it’s the wild head who cackles—after crying, the young widow chops and chops wood.” The second part of the expression (After crying...) is self-sufficient in itself and 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.
Means of 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 not to emphasize the characteristic properties of the object. The main thing is the figurative, most accurate expression of the author's thoughts, because one of the most powerful means of expressiveness is comparison. Examples from literature brilliantly illustrate its role in the formation of the image desired by the author. Here is a line of creation from M.Yu. Lermontov: “Harun ran faster than a 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 a small degree of 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, what does rationality have to do with it? After all, no one demands special accuracy or literalness from comparisons! But here are dissimilar comparison examples, strings belonging to different people. “There were fire-faced elands here, like glasses of bloody wine” (N. Zabolotsky) and “Fate, you look like a market butcher, whose knife is bloody from tip to handle” (Khakani). Despite all the dissimilarity of these expressions, they are distinguished by a common feature. Both phrases tell about completely ordinary things (about red flowers, about the 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 realistic narratives.
Examples of comparisons in Russian
Russian language is considered one of the most difficult. And at the same time, the creations of domestic classics are recognized throughout the world as the most brilliant, original, and talented. It seems that there is an inextricable connection 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 enormous scope for a talented writer who has managed to master cunning techniques. 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 forever in memory. Poetic works are especially conducive to this. “Our life in old age is like a worn-out robe: it’s both a shame to wear it and 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 precision. 
“His beaver collar is silvered with frosty dust” - this is a line from the poem “Eugene Onegin”. Only a few words, but the capital’s boulevard, covered with snow, and a young dandy heading to the ball emerge before my eyes. And then there’s the episode at the ball: “He walked in: and the cork hit the ceiling, the current flowed out from the comet.” If Pushkin had written that a footman had opened a bottle of champagne, he would not have deviated from the truth. But would this picture of extraordinary, festive, sparkling fun have emerged so clearly then?
And this is 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 more accurately convey the 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 ancient enmity and captivity!” - this is about how the waters of the Neva were encased in granite. Yes, probably, this could be stated without comparisons, but would the pictures drawn by the author appear so clearly before the eyes?
And more about Russian poetic creativity
There are plenty of wonderful examples of the use of comparative images in the works of other Russian poets. Amazing comparisons in Bunin's poem “Childhood” accurately convey the atmosphere of a hot summer day, the sensations 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 sunny chambers. 
No less remarkable, although completely different examples are present in the works of other Russian wordsmiths. Comparisons in Yesenin’s poem “Good Morning!” reveal to the reader a summer dawn. Golden stars are dozing, instead of river water there is a mirror of the backwater, there are green catkins on the birch trees, silver dews are burning, and the nettles are dressed in bright mother-of-pearl. In fact, the entire poem is one big comparison. And how beautiful it is!
We can talk about comparisons in S. Yesenin’s works for a long time - they are all so bright, imaginative and at the same time different. If in the work “Good Morning” the atmosphere is light, joyful, pleasant, then when reading the poem “Black Man” there is a feeling of heaviness, even disaster (it is not for nothing that it is considered a kind of requiem by the author). And this atmosphere of hopelessness is also formed thanks to unusually accurate comparisons!
“The Black Man” is a tragically unique poem. A certain black man who appeared 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, the brain is showered with alcohol,” “My head flaps its ears like the wings of a bird, its legs can no longer loom on its neck,” “In December in that country the snow is pure as hell, and snowstorms make merry spinning wheels.” You read these lines and see everything: the bright frosty winter, and enormous human despair. 
Conclusion
You can express your thoughts in different ways. But for some it is faded and dull phrases, or even completely incoherent babble, while for others it is luxurious, flowery paintings. Comparisons and other artistic techniques allow us to achieve figurative speech, both written and oral. And you should not neglect this wealth.
What is comparison in Russian (examples and definitions)?
- Natasha’s cheeks turned pink, as if (as if, like, as if, as if, exactly) two apples (the usual, simplest comparison, using a comparing conjunction).
- Natasha's cheeks looked like (resembled) two pink apples (the same simple comparison, but instead of conjunctions there are other parts of speech).
- Natasha's cheeks turned pink like red apples (the object with which the comparison is being made is put in the Instrumental case).
- Natasha's cheeks and apples became more and more pink (the two objects being compared are connected by a hyphen).
- Natasha's apple cheeks were pinker than ever (an unusual definition was used for comparison purposes).
Comparison is a stylistic device in language when a phenomenon or concept is clarified and clarified by comparing it with another phenomenon or concept. Comparisons can be negative and detailed.
Examples of comparisons and ways to express them:
A comparison is a stylistic device that is based on a figurative comparison of states or several objects. Writers very often use comparisons in their works and this expresses their subtext very well. For example, the words of A. S. Pushkin
Also in nature it is very well expressed and applied
Comparison- identifying a common feature by comparing (assimilating) one phenomenon to another. Stylistic device in Russian language and literature. The letter is separated by commas. Comparison can be simple (as if) or indirect.
Comparison in Russian is a stylistic device through which you can describe the properties of one object by comparing its qualities with another. There are various comparison techniques in Russian, for example, using degrees of qualitative adjectives:
- positive degree (qualitative);
- comparative (better quality);
- excellent (best quality).
Is there some more 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 winter. Here the word weather is a subject of comparison, and like winter is an image.
Comparison in Russian is the comparison in oral or written speech of two objects or phenomena that have general signs. Can also be used to explain one phenomenon in terms of another.
Examples of comparisons.
Comparison- this is a special literary device based on the comparison of two objects or phenomena between which egalitarian relations can be established. Using comparison artistic speech becomes more vivid and expressive, the character of the characters is revealed more fully.
In the literature, comparisons are created in several ways:
Using comparative unions as if, as if, as, exactly etc.
Form of the instrumental case.
Comparative degree of an adjective or adverb.
With words similar And like.
Some comparisons due frequent use become stable expressions, therefore, from comparisons they turned into phraseological units. For example:
Comparison in Russian means a comparison of various objects or phenomena in order to explain an 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 characteristics.
Here are some examples:
Sunny smile - here the smile is compared to the sun, meaning just as bright and warm.
His eyes are as deep as the sea - his eyes are compared to the depths of the sea;
She is as beautiful as the rose of May - she is compared to the rose of May.
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 can vividly imagine the pictures and events being described. This is likening, contrasting two different objects, in order to then assert that they are similar or different, identifying their common features.
1.Simple Comparison Method- with the use of words: as, exactly, as if, as if, as if.
Rose petals turned red on the snow, How drops of blood.
Her eyes sparkled as if diamonds.
She was so thin as if 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- He pulled everything into his hole. Compare: He lived How hamster. those. the previous words are not applied, but are implied.
3.Non-union comparisons:
My home is my castle.
4.Comparison by metaphor(Expression used in a figurative sense).
A. Typical metaphor- We read from A. Blok Streams of my poems run - the poems are called streams.
B. Negative metaphor- More often in ancient Russian epics, songs and tales - It’s not thunder that rumbles, it’s not a mosquito that squeaks, it’s godfather dragging pike perch from godfather to godfather.
IN. Comparisons - set phrases - comparisons:
Sweet like honey, sour like vinegar, bitter like pepper.
G. Animal comparisons:
Line M.Yu. Lermontov: Harun ran faster than a deer, faster than a hare from an eagle
D. Comparisons are frightening visual images:
Fate, you are like a market butcher, whose knife is bloody from tip to handle (Khakani).
The talent of a writer is manifested in the ability to use comparisons, and therefore for one it is bright pictures, and for another it is 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 greater expressiveness.
There are several types of comparisons (for example, using conjunctions AS, AS WHAT, etc.; using metaphors, etc.):
For example,
He is as strong as a bull.
Comparison in any language (and in Russian in particular) is, in essence, rhetorical figure, 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.
It can be explained to students this way:
In order to figuratively and beautifully compare two (or several) people, animals, two objects or two qualities, writers and poets use comparisons.
Similes and metaphors are different language concepts, so there is no need to confuse them. Otherwise we will make a mistake.
Since the question was sent to the zone of the Russian language, in particular syntax, then, when considering comparisons, we now need to focus specifically on the linguistic primaries of comparison.
Here are some of my examples with explanations: