What is a unclear pronoun reference?
An unclear pronoun reference occurs when it is not clear which noun a pronoun refers to. In the following example, the noun or nouns to which that pronoun might refer are in boldface, and the pronoun is in italics: Unclear: To keep birds from eating seeds, soak them in blue food coloring.
What’s a pronoun reference?
What is pronoun reference? Pronoun reference is the practice of making pronouns refer clearly to the words they replace. A pronoun takes the place of a noun; thus, the pronoun must agree with the noun it replaces in number and person. Also, it must be clear which noun the pronoun is substituting for.
How do you fix a unclear pronoun reference?
You can best fix this error by rephrasing the sentence. Rephrasing the sentence has made the meaning clear. Faulty / vague pronoun reference errors also occur when the pronoun’s antecedent functions as an adjective rather than a noun.
What is a vague pronoun reference examples?
A vague pronoun reference occurs when a pronoun could refer to more than one possible antecedent. When Lisa and Kim finally landed, she breathed a sigh of relief. The pronoun she could refer to either Lisa or Kim, so the meaning of the sentence is unclear.
What is pronoun referent and give examples?
The definition of a pronoun is “a word used in the place of or as a substitute for a noun.” The most common pronouns in English—and the ones which cause most problems in terms of their referents—are who/whom, he/him/his, she/her, it/its, or they/them/their. Here’s an example where the referent of a pronoun is unclear.
What is an example of an unclear antecedent?
The folder was on the bus, but now it’s gone. This sentence provides a classic example of an unclear antecedent because the reader can’t be certain what “it” the writer means. Is he or she referring to the folder? Or the bus? (Or, perhaps, both?)
Which sentence has a unclear pronoun reference?
Unclear: She doesn’t even pay rent and yelled at us for making too much noise. This blew our minds! Revised: It blew our minds that she yelled at us for making too much noise when she doesn’t even pay rent! Unclear: When he broke his arm and the bone popped out, that was disgusting!
What does a vague pronoun reference mean?
What is a Vague Pronoun? A pronoun can be considered vague if it doesn’t clearly refer to a specific person or thing in the sentence (the antecedent). Using demonstrative pronouns, such as ‘it’ or ‘those,’ without a clear antecedent can cause confusion.
What are reference words examples?
They are: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs. As with personal pronouns, my and our are not commonly used in academic writing.
What is antecedent reference?
In English grammar, an antecedent is the noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to. Also known as a referent. More broadly, an antecedent may be any word in a sentence (or in a sequence of sentences) that another word or phrase refers to.
What are antecedents examples?
The word antecedent refers to something that comes before, or precedes, something else. For example, especially in older or more formal English prose, people might refer to their ancestors or predecessors in a job as “my antecedents.”
What is a faulty or vague pronoun reference?
Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms In traditional grammar, faulty pronoun reference is a catch-all term for a pronoun (often a personal pronoun) that doesn’t refer clearly and unambiguously to its antecedent.
What is pronoun reference and agreement?
Page 1. Pronoun Agreement & Reference. Abridged from Learner English. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents, which is the noun to which pronouns refer. Singular pronouns are used with singular antecedents, and plural pronouns are used with plural antecedents.
What is antecedent Urdu?
1) antecedent Noun. Someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent). جد امجد دادا پردادا آباواجداد
What is an ambiguous pronoun reference?
What is a ambiguous pronoun reference? Ambiguous pronoun reference occurs when the antecedent of a pronoun is missing or unclear: John and Jim decided to go to the store after he finished work. Within this sentence, it is unclear whether “he” is referring to John or Jim.
What are pronouns and their antecedents?
Explanation. The noun or noun substitute that a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent. For example, in the sentence: Chelsey finished her presentation, “Chelsey” is the antecedent and “her” is the pronoun. Pronouns should agree in number, person, and gender with their antecedents.