LessonsPurposes of Simile: Possibility, Condition, Degree, Beautification, Disfigurement and ReversalQuiz

أو حاله
Or explaining its condition.

Explaining a condition is intended when the listener does not know the subject's relevant quality and can learn it through a familiar comparison term. The essential question is not how intense the quality is, but what the quality is.

Suppose the colour of a piece of cloth is unknown. Comparing it with another cloth known to be black tells the listener that the first cloth is black as well. The point is the presence and type of colour. If the speaker instead aims to explain how extremely black the cloth is, the purpose moves from the nature of the condition to its degree.

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Explaining an unknown condition

Purposes of Simile: Possibility, Condition, Degree, Beautification, Disfigurement and Reversal

أو حاله
Or explaining its condition.

Explaining a condition is intended when the listener does not know the subject's relevant quality and can learn it through a familiar comparison term. The essential question is not how intense the quality is, but what the quality is.

Suppose the colour of a piece of cloth is unknown. Comparing it with another cloth known to be black tells the listener that the first cloth is black as well. The point is the presence and type of colour. If the speaker instead aims to explain how extremely black the cloth is, the purpose moves from the nature of the condition to its degree.