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Why do pronouns need an antecedent?

What is an antecedent?

Pronouns are used in place of a noun. This word that the pronoun replaces is called an antecedent.  It is the antecedent of the pronoun. An antecedent comes before the pronoun that refers to it.  Here are some examples:

1. The mother held a rattle and the baby played with it.

2. Mike entered the cycling race and he won first prize.

In the first example above the pronoun it is used in place of the noun rattle. In this case rattle is the antecedent of the pronoun it.  The pronoun it refers to rattle.

In the second sentence the pronoun he is used in place of the noun Mike. The noun Mike is the antecedent of the pronoun he. As you can see the he in the sentence refers to Mike.

What is faulty pronoun reference?

Sentence with antecedent and pronoun in circles
Identifying pronoun and its antecedent

Your pronouns must refer directly to their antecedent. When it is not clear what is the antecedent of a pronoun, writing can become ambiguous. You can leave your reader confused. You can fail to deliver the correct information. Miscommunication can be the result.

Here is an example of an unclear pronoun reference:

After taking the drill from the toolbox, Fred gave it away.

Here we are not sure if the pronoun it refers to the toolbox or to the drill. We do not know what is the antecedent of it. We are confused as to whether Fred gave away the toolbox or whether he gave away the drill.

We can rewrite the sentence as follows and remove the ambiguity.

Fred gave away the drill after he took it from the toolbox.

In this new sentence it is clear that the pronoun it refers to drill.  The antecedent of it is drill. Now we are sure of what item Fred gave away.

You can also avoid a faulty pronoun reference by rewriting the sentence without the use of a pronoun.

Example: After taking out the drill, Fred gave away the toolbox.

This new construction makes it clear what Fred gave away.

Examples of faulty pronoun reference

Here are some other examples of faulty pronoun reference. These sentences leave the reader guessing about the antecedent of a pronoun.

1. Carla and her mother watched the parade but she did not like the fireworks.

Here it is unclear whether the antecedent of she is Carla or her mother.

2. The Sparrows defeated the Marbles and they hired a new coach.

In this sentence the faulty pronoun reference leaves us guessing as to which team hired a new coach. They is a plural pronoun and there are two plural nouns preceding it. There are two possible antecedents and this uncertainty leaves the reader confused.

3.  The black hen and the white hen which had chicks scratched a hole in the yard.

Which hen had chicks? Once again we are left guessing.    Where you have two possible antecedents your pronoun reference can be unclear.

What happens when you leave out the antecedent?

The examples above are unclear because there are two possible antecedents for the pronoun. However you may find that a pronoun is used in a sentence and there is no noun or antecedent to which it can refer.

Example: Sandra can draw but she does not use it.

In this sentence the pronoun reference is very unclear. We know that the pronoun she refers to Sandra. The other pronoun it has no noun to which it can refer. There is only one noun in the sentence and that is the word Sandra. It cannot refer to Sandra for Sandra is a person. We can guess that the writer is referring to Sandra’s talent for drawing. We could rephrase the sentence and get rid of the pronoun it.

Example: Sandra can draw but she does not use that talent.

Another way to avoid the unclear pronoun reference is to include a noun as an antecedent for the pronoun it.

Example: Sandra has artistic talent but she does not use it.

Now the pronoun it has the antecedent talent to which it can refer.

Be careful when writing and avoid unclear pronoun reference.

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Can you use the passive voice?

Is it wrong to use the passive voice?

Have you noticed how the spelling and grammar check on your computer flags every use of the passive voice as an error and prompts you to change to the use of the active voice? By now you are beginning to wonder if you can ever use the passive voice.

If we are not encouraged to use the passive voice, then why is there a passive voice? First let’s explain what is the passive voice.

What is the passive voice?

Usually in a sentence the subject performs the action to the object. This is the active voice.

Active Voice:  Tom threw the ball. (The subject “Tom’ performs the action.)

When the action is performed upon the subject, this is the use of the passive voice.

Passive Voice: The ball was thrown by Tom. (The action is done to the subject “ball”.)

Look at the two examples again and you will see that the object of the sentence in the active voice becomes the subject of the sentence written in the passive voice. “Ball “ is the object of the active sentence and in the passive sentence “ball” becomes the subject.

Common reasons to use the passive voice

1. Use the passive voice for emphasis

You can use the passive voice when it is more important to emphasise an action or the object of the action rather than the agent of the action.

  • The streetlights have to be replaced.

Here you want the emphasis on the state of the streetlights rather than on who is responsible for replacing them. You want to show that the streetlights are not functioning.

  • Large boulders were brought down by the ghaut.

If you want to focus on the size and type of material brought down by the ghaut you make that the subject of the sentence by using the passive voice.

2. You can use the passive voice for business communication

In business correspondence some types of writing are formal and are usually expressed in the passive voice. Examples of these are notices of meetings, notices of auctions and notices giving information to the general public. 

Example:

Notice is hereby given that the thirty-second Annual General Meeting of Tora Co. Ltd will be held at Kranfour located on Garrough’s Main Road, on Wednesday July 24, 2019 at 5:00 p.m.

3. The passive voice is used in cases of evasion of responsibility

Mistakes were made

The passive voice is also used when the writer does not want to say who did the action. A famous passive expression is, “Mistakes were made.” This is a deliberate use of the passive voice to avoid identifying who is responsible for the mistakes. It is used when someone wants to avoid taking the responsibility for an action or decision.

In one example President Reagan said “mistakes were made” when his administration sold arms to Iran and used the money to help finance rebels in Nicaragua.  This use of the passive voice is sometimes adopted by politicians or persons with positions of responsibility in important organisations.

4. When making a general statement you can use the passive voice

The passive voice can be used to express a common knowledge or if the author of a saying is unknown.

Example: Love is said to be all-forgiving.

5. When you do not know who is doing the action:

  • My bike was stolen from my driveway.

or when it is not important to know the agent:

  • I’m not staying at this hotel. I was offered a room elsewhere.

6. When the agent of the action can be determined from the context of the sentence:

  • I was asked to count the number of participants attending the workshop.
  • The flight was overbooked and some passengers were being encouraged to give up their seats.

7. When making a promise or assurance.

  • Your identity will be kept a secret.

The use of the passive is not a grammatical error contrary to the grammar checker of your computer. The passive voice has its uses.

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How subjects and verbs agree even with words between them

Avoid long sentences

One of the reasons why people make mistakes of agreement is that they use long sentences. It is more noticeable in speech than in writing. Often you can hear a speaker getting carried away with making a point. But the speaker adds so many phrases and clauses to the sentence that the subject is forgotten.

No matter how many phrases you use, one rule of agreement is that intervening phrases do not change the number of the verb. An intervening phrase is one that comes between the subject and the verb.         

Example: The birds in the pond search for food.                                                                                         

The phrase in the pond comes between the subject birds and the verb search. Another way to express this rule is that words coming after the subject do not change its number.A clause can also come between the subject and the verb.

Example: The headmaster who trained the lions has run away with the circus.

The clause, who trained the lions comes between the subject headmaster and the verb has.

When we speak and write we often add phrases and clauses to the subject to describe it or add some quality to it.  Some persons get carried away with the description they have made and they forget what is the subject.

Take a look at the sentence below.

The lizard, sitting on the rock among the plants, is sunning itself.

Lizard is the subject. It is followed by two phrases sitting on the rock and among the plants. These phrases though adding to the subject to expand its meaning do not change the number of the subject. The lizard is still singular. It is only one lizard so the verb should be singular and we use the verb is. W

When one noun is singular and the other is plural

What may cause confusion is when the noun in the phrase or clause is different in number to the subject. In the example sentence above we have lizard as the subject and this is singular. In the phrases following we have another noun rock that is singular too. In addition we have plants that is plural. That noun is a different number to the subject and it comes just before we have to choose a verb to complete the sentence. Because the word plants is the last noun spoken or written before the verb, persons tend to make the verb agree with it. This is incorrect. 

Don’t lose sight of your subject

When you string together lots of phrases or even a subordinate clause after your subject keep in mind the number of the subject of your sentence.  When another noun in your sentence is plural and the subject is singular be careful. Similarly when the subject is plural and the other noun in a following phrase is singular, be careful as well.  Remember your subject. That is the only word to determine the number of the verb.

It’s a good idea to use shorter sentences. If you have to use a long sentence do not lose sight of your subject. Remember that your verb has to agree with that subject.