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1997-03-31
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B3D5a
Clear Pronoun Reference
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A pronoun is used in place of a noun; that noun is called the
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antecedent. Unless the reader knows to what noun the
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pronoun is referring, the sentence can be confusing. For
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example, "She saw them" has no meaning unless you know
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to which "she" and "them" the sentence refers. Make
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certain that the antecedent of the pronoun is clear.
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Ambiguous Reference
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If a pronoun has more than one possible antecedent,
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change the sentence so that the reference of the pronoun is
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unmistakably clear. Sometimes the sentence can be made
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clear by substituting a noun for the pronoun, but in other
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cases, the sentence must be rewritten. Ambiguous reference
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can be a particular problem with the pronouns
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this
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,
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that
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,
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these
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,
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those
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,
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they
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,
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them
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, and
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it
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.
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Unclear:
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After the dogs made muddy footprints on the
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floors, she was obliged to clean them.
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(the dogs or the floors?)
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Rephrased:
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After the dogs made muddy footprints on
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the floors, she was obliged to clean the floors.
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General Reference
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Avoid using pronouns to refer to general ideas or to replace
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a series of general statements. General reference can also
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be a particular problem with the pronouns
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which
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,
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this
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,
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that
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,
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and
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it
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.
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Unclear:
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Our neighbor allows her cat on the kitchen
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counters which we disapprove of.
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Rephrased:
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We disapprove of our neighbor's allowing
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her cat on the kitchen counters.
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Unclear:
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We went to the beach, rented a boat,
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capsized, and waited the rest of the day for rescue. It was
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not what I had expected.
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Rephrased:
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We went to the beach, rented a boat,
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capsized, and waited the rest of the day for rescue. Our
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day at the beach was not what I had expected.
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Since
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this
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is one of the worst culprits for general reference, a
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good rule of thumb is to avoid using
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this
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alone. In other
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words, use
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this
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as an adjective (
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this
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event,
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this
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idea) rather
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than as a demonstrative pronoun. See Demonstrative
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Pronouns under
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Advanced Pronoun Information
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