{"id":5346,"date":"2021-08-18T06:00:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-18T11:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=5346"},"modified":"2021-08-11T16:29:27","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T21:29:27","slug":"inanimate-object","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/inanimate-object\/","title":{"rendered":"Inanimate Object"},"content":{"rendered":"

American English can be flexible and expressive in conveying thoughts and ideas. For example, we might write or say something such as that guitar has been lounging in my living-room corner since Reagan was president.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many of us may understand what that sentence conveys, but some of us might also ask ourselves if a guitar<\/em> can lounge<\/em>. What exactly do we have here? Let’s discuss that.<\/p>\n

What Does an Inanimate Object Mean?<\/h2>\n

An inanimate object is a thing that is not living or that does not move on its own, such as a rock, a stapler, or a hairbrush (or a guitar). With language, we can make an inanimate object come to life through personification<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Personification is the attribution of human nature or character to something nonhuman, inanimate, or abstract. It is the device that allows us to assign a human action (lounging<\/em>) to an inanimate object (guitar<\/em>).<\/p>\n

In addition to that example, we might hear personification of an inanimate object expressed in ways such as:<\/p>\n

I think my boots<\/u> walked away<\/u> when I wasn’t looking.<\/em><\/p>\n

The falling feather<\/u>\u00a0etched<\/u> an elegant script in the air with its descent.<\/em><\/p>\n

The tumbleweed<\/u> danced<\/u> with delight across the barren terrain.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In each of these sentences, we are giving human characteristics to an inanimate (inhuman) object.<\/p>\n

With perhaps a bit less creative license, we also commonly personify inanimate objects with statements such as the river<\/u> runs<\/u> south <\/em>and the staircase<\/u> rises<\/u> to the third floor.<\/em><\/p>\n

Inanimate Object: What Are Personification’s Limits?<\/h2>\n

Sometimes a question can surface about the liberty taken in a sentence such as Maria’s promotion has often been encouraged by her manager. <\/em><\/p>\n

While many of us may understand what is being expressed, those who are highly attuned to precision might challenge whether a promotion, which is an inanimate concept, can be encouraged. If a promotion is not sentient, would it respond to another person’s motivation?<\/p>\n

Reason could argue no (personification!). People who see language as creatively pliable could say yes.<\/p>\n

Another example might be that plate was inspired by 19th century Spanish art.<\/em> Can a plate be inspired\u2014by another inanimate object?<\/p>\n

You may have noted that both examples are in the passive voice. Let’s put them in the active voice and see if that makes a difference:<\/p>\n

Maria’s manager has often encouraged her promotion.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nineteenth century Spanish art inspired that plate.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the first sentence, we now have a person performing a human action, but the inanimate concept still receives it. In the second sentence, we still have an inanimate object acting in a human way upon another inanimate object.<\/p>\n

If you are ever unsure about whether something you’ve personified can be read with proper suspension of doubt, simply try modifying some of the sentence elements:<\/p>\n

Maria’s manager has often encouraged her being promoted.<\/em><\/p>\n

The plate’s maker found inspiration for it by looking at 19th century Spanish art.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Inanimate Object with Whose<\/em><\/h2>\n

Another question that can surface with inanimate objects is whether they can be used with the pronoun whose.<\/em> For some, a sentence such as the following might be awkward:<\/p>\n

I love to play that guitar, whose<\/u> strings always fancy the whims of my imagining fingers.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some people might pause at such a sentence because they think of whose <\/em>as a possessive pronoun for animate objects (people and animals) only:<\/p>\n

I am going to visit Jose, whose<\/u> guitar always fancies the whims of my imagining fingers.<\/em><\/p>\n

There is the dog whose<\/u> gait is so regal.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

By definition, whose<\/em> is the possessive form of both who <\/em>and which, <\/em>meaning it can refer to both animate and inanimate objects.<\/p>\n

The man whose<\/u> ways aren’t bad should make at least a few people glad.<\/em><\/p>\n

That is the sewing machine whose<\/u> needle has served for close to a century.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h2>\n

Identify any instances of personification of an inanimate object in the following sentences.<\/p>\n

1. Are you trying to tell me that paper just flew away?<\/p>\n

2. That cage is the right size for the guinea pig.<\/p>\n

3. The fountain outside my window whispered to me throughout the night.<\/p>\n

4. That designer suit hugs you in all the right places.<\/p>\n

5. This pen has no ink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. Are you trying to tell me that paper<\/strong> just flew away<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

2. That cage is the right size for the guinea pig. no personification<\/strong><\/p>\n

3. The fountain<\/strong> outside my window whispered<\/strong> to me throughout the night.<\/p>\n

4. That suit<\/strong> hugs<\/strong> you in all the right places.<\/p>\n

5. This pen has no ink. no personification<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American English can be flexible and expressive in conveying thoughts and ideas. For example, we might write or say something such as that guitar has been lounging in my living-room corner since Reagan was president. Many of us may understand what that sentence conveys, but some of us might also ask ourselves if a guitar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-nouns"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5346"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5351,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5346\/revisions\/5351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}