From the given options, select the figure of speech used in the line:
For two whole hours, Dadi stirred the milk for the Diwali kheer with a patient spoon.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Transferred epithet
A spoon cannot be patient. It is Dadi who is patient, as she stirs the milk slowly for two hours. The word “patient” is moved from Dadi to the spoon she holds. The spoon does nothing human, so this is not personification.
| Figure | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Personification | human qualities or actions given to a thing, an animal or an idea | The old street lamp kept watch over our lane all night. |
| (2) Metaphor | a hidden comparison: it says one thing is another, without “like” or “as” | For a nervous new driver, the Delhi ring road is a racetrack. |
| (3) Hyperbole | a big exaggeration made for effect | My sister tries on a thousand dresses before every party. |
| (4) Transferred epithet (answer) | a describing word moved from a person to a thing linked to them | The farmer pushed a weary plough across the field. |