From the given options, select the figure of speech used in the following sentence.
The patient tossed and turned all night on his restless bed.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Transferred Epithet
A bed cannot be restless. The patient was restless, as he tossed and turned all night. The word “restless” has moved from the patient to his bed.
| Figure | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Personification | makes a non-living thing act or feel like a person. Here the bed does nothing. The word only shows how the patient felt | The old door groaned when I pushed it. |
| (2) Transferred Epithet (answer) | an epithet is a describing word. Here a word that describes a person moves to a thing linked with that person | Ravi spent a sleepless night before his board exam. |
| (3) Metaphor | says one thing is another thing, without “like” or “as”. The bed is not called something else | My grandfather is a storehouse of stories. |
| (4) Hyperbole | a big exaggeration for effect. A sick man tossing all night is told as it was. Nothing is made bigger | I have told you a thousand times to shut the gate. |