ENUMERATION: CONCEPT, TYPES, USES, EXAMPLES - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The enumeration is a literary device that is based on placing the descriptive components of a sentence, sentence or paragraph in a successive or cumulative way. For example: "The best thing about going on a trip is the feeling of freedom, landscapes, getting to know new cultures, gastronomy and museums."

The process of linguistic enumeration generally separates elements with a comma (,) and by connectives or nexuses (y, e, that is, then, therefore, by cause). The following is an example of an enumeration: García Márquez, Benedetti, Borges, Neruda, Rulfo, and Parra were influential writers.

The enumeration is a literary device that is based on placing the descriptive components of a sentence, sentence or paragraph in a successive or cumulative way. Source: lifeder.com.

The enumeration is used as a descriptive tool, since it allows exposing the different features that shape an idea or thought. In addition, this literary figure brings coherence, logic, coordination and sequence to the discourse. There are different types of enumeration: simple, chaotic, ascending and descending.

Concept

The enumeration is a rhetorical figure that consists in stating successively the elements that make up a conceptual description. In other words, this literary tool is the continuous or chained sum of the components of a sentence.

Regarding the etymological origin of enumeration, it is known that it comes from the Latin word enumeratio. This term is made up of the prefix ex which means "outward", by numerus, which is translated as number, and by the suffix "tion" which is "action and effect". Meanwhile, it is the action of exposing ideas enumeratedly.

Enumeration types

Enumeration occurs in four different types. Up next, each of the preview are described:

- Ascending

This type of enumeration consists of exposing the elements that make up the statement, sentence or paragraph in an order that goes from least to greatest according to their importance and meaning.

Example:

I go for that which is good, lofty and sublime.

- chaotic

Chaotic enumeration occurs when the sequential elements of the linguistic statement do not have any type of link between them.

Example:

What Pedro enjoys the most is rock, sushi, good fishing and hiking.

- descending

This variety of enumeration focuses on ordering from highest to lowest the descriptive components of sentences or paragraphs according to their preponderance.

Example:

Let's be clear, normally it gives jobs first to doctors, then to magisters, then to graduates, and finally to high school graduates.

- Simple

It is the most common type of enumeration and consists of successively placing the elements that make up the parts or fragments of a whole.

Example:

If we talk about my childhood, we will go to the simple, to the toys, the tacos, the beach, the nets, the boats, the sand, the street dogs and the fish on the shore, plus nothing.

Applications

In relation to the uses of enumeration, this literary resource has space in all genres due to its descriptive and expository nature. In this sense, the enumeration is common in novels, short stories, chronicles, essays and poems. In addition, the enumeration is part of oral speeches and daily communication.

Enumeration examples

- I never stopped counting the seconds, appreciating the minutes, valuing the hours and yearning for the days. He was alive, it was what was worth the most. (Upward).

- For some reason I started to fear trucks, cars, motorcycles, even bicycles. Everything that could transport me terrified me. (Falling).

- What could I say about Fernando? He was attentive, he liked video games, singing, going fishing with his friends, studying geography, well, he was a very well-rounded young man. (Chaotic).

- Go, walk along the beach, along the boardwalk, through the streets of the town, through the grandmother's house, through the room from when I was a child, through the life that I remember and that is the life that really remains for me. (Simple).

- Take the thread, tie the rods, then put glue on the paper and add it to the structure, put the tail on the parrot, the faithful, tie them to the spool of wick and then throw it flying through the strong air. (Upward).

- I saw the gannets fly along the sea level, the seagulls and the little earworms, each and every one feeding on the sea. (Falling).

- I saw her at dawn, I followed her footsteps at dawn, we ate at noon, love surprised us in the afternoon and when night came she went to her town. (Upward).

- The fisherman dreamed of whales, killer whales, sharks, dolphins, swordfish, dorado and sardines, all in a magical and giant net that supported them. (Falling).

- The mechanic was meticulous, but different, he used everything to repair the car… cans, screwdrivers, wires, water pipes, clothespins, even strawberry ice cream… that was total madness.

More examples

- First I saw millions, then thousands, then hundreds, then only about ten, and, in the end, a simple man, only one, but his hand was enough to destroy the world. (Falling).

- He's crazy, as a counselor, as a therapist, as a psychologist, as a psychiatrist. Anyway, it should be checked. (Upward).

- The street was all that can be, it was white, black, high, low, deserted, hyper populated, it was of cats, of dogs, cloudy, sunny, of men, of women, violent and quiet, it was the center of my people… yes, it was everything possible. (Chaotic).

- The child was very excited, there, in the ice cream parlor, there was a world of chocolate, vanilla, tangerine, lemon, mango, strawberry, kiwi, apple, pear, grape… every possible flavor, every joy. (Simple)

- From the universe, I choose the Milky Way, from it, I take, the solar system, from there, the Earth, from that planet, the American continent, from that land, Venezuela, from that country, Nueva Esparta, from its three islands, Margarita, and in that place I choose you. (Falling).

- Of the fish, everything, the body, the scale, the skin, the meat, the bone and the marrow… I learned to eat everything, every piece of the soul of the sea. (Falling).

- From the spirit I went to the soul, from there to the cell, then to the blood, the fire, the flesh, the skin, the entire body, and that's how I became a man. (Upward).

References

1. Enumeration. (2020). Spain: Dictionary of the Spanish Language. Recovered from: dle.rae.es.
2. Enumeration (rhetoric). (2020). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
3. 2 examples of enumeration. (2014). (N / A): Rhetoric. Recovered from: rhetoricas.com.
4. The enumeration. (S. f.). (N / A): Literary Figures. Recovered from: figuraliterarias.org.
5. Enumeration. (2020). Spain: Wikilengua. Recovered from: es.wikilengua.org.