What does assonance mean?
Word: Assonance
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Assonance means the repeating of the same vowel sound in words that sit close together, as in the long i of 'fine white kites'.
How do you spell assonance?
Syllables: as - so - nance
Tricky part: The ending is -ance with an a, though many pupils hear it as -ence and write assonence.
Watch out for: assonence, assonanse
Memory tip: Let the vowels of a poem get up to dance: assonance finishes with the same four letters as dance.
Assonance in a sentence
Example 1: Our English teacher pointed out the assonance in the line 'the rain stays in the grey lanes'.
Example 2: Meher used assonance in her poem by repeating the long o of 'slow boats float home'.
Example 3: Songwriters often lean on assonance when two lines do not quite rhyme.
Fun Fact
Assonance is also known as vowel rhyme, and it turns up often in nursery rhymes and advertising slogans, where echoing vowels help a line stick in the memory.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
a_s_nance
a) s, u
b) c, o
c) s, o
d) s, a
Show answer
c) s, o. Two s's open the word, and the weak vowel after them is an o.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
assonnance
a) c
b) a
c) n
d) s
Show answer
c) n. The word has just one n before its -ance ending.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. aliteration 2. assonance 3. metafor 4. personificasion
a) the use of the same first sound in several words close together
b) a way of describing something by calling it something else
c) a poetic echo made by matching the inner sounds of neighbouring words
d) giving human qualities to an object or an idea
Show answer
c) a poetic echo made by matching the inner sounds of neighbouring words. Aliteration is missing an l, metafor swaps ph for f and personificasion uses s where -tion belongs; assonance has no slip.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The poet's line about a pale grey lake is full of snoacenas.
a) dissonance
b) assurance
c) assonance
d) resonance
Show answer
c) assonance. The jumble has no r, no d and no u, which rules out the three look-alikes.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which line is built on assonance?
a) I like the wide sky at night.
b) Her smile was as warm as the sun.
c) The door creaked and the tap went drip.
d) Busy bees buzz by the barn.
Show answer
a) I like the wide sky at night.
2. Which pair of words shares a vowel sound without rhyming?
a) sun and sand
b) lake and fate
c) cat and hat
d) bell and ball
Show answer
b) lake and fate
