This lecture discusses problems with pronoun reference and how to fix these

problems.
It is important to always use pronouns that clearly refer to a specific referent or
antecedent. Otherwise, the meaning of the sentence will be clouded and the reader
may not understand the intended meaning.

The following slides will discuss problems with pronoun reference that writers and
speakers have when they use pronouns:

• Ambiguous reference
• Vague and ambiguous use of It, They, and demonstrative pronouns like This.
• Incorrect reference for You
• The pronoun and antecedent are too far apart
• Possessive nouns as antecedents

Note: Many grammar resources use the term possessive pronoun to refer to
possessive adjectives. In this presentation I will also sometimes use the term
possessive pronoun to refer to the possessive adjectives.

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Ambiguous pronoun reference means that a pronoun has more than one possible
antecedent.

In the first sentence on this slide, the pronouns he and him could refer to either of
two antecedents, Fitzgerald or Hemingway. “Although Fitzgerald and Hemingway
were colleagues and friends in the twenties, he later came to resent him.” The
sentence must be revised to remove the ambiguity.

One way to revise this sentence is to simply replace the pronouns with nouns, like
this: “Although Fitzgerald and Hemingway were colleagues and friends in the
twenties, Hemingway later came to resent Fitzgerald.” The sentence is correct, but
stylistically it is repetitious.

The best solution for the problem of ambiguous reference is to rewrite the sentence
to eliminate the ambiguity and the repetition, like this: “Although they were
colleagues and friends in the twenties, Hemingway later came to resent Fitzgerald.”
Now the only pronoun, they, has a clear reference, Hemingway and Fitzgerald. It is
clear who resented whom, and the names of the writers are not repeated.
Here is an example of ambiguous pronoun reference for the pronoun it: “The
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) served two purposes: to create jobs and build
infrastructure. It provided work for young unmarried men whose families were on
relief.”

Here the word it that begins the second sentence could refer to either the CCC or to
infrastructure. The idea of infrastructure providing work is illogical when we think
carefully about it, but logical enough so that the reference may be ambiguous.

We can replace the ambiguous it with a noun, like this: “The CCC served two
purposes: to create jobs and build infrastructure. The organization provided work
for young unmarried men whose families were on relief.” While the pronoun can
certainly be replaced with The CCC, the writer decided to use The organization to
prevent repetition.
There are times when a pronoun has two possible antecedents. To decide whether
the pronoun is clear, logic should prevail.

Take this sentence: “If a bear manages to obtain human food, it usually loses its
fear of humans and becomes aggressive, so park personnel must capture and kill
it.”

In this sentence the pronoun it has two possible grammatical antecedents: bear and
food. However, it is really too illogical to think that food can lose fear and that park
personnel will come and kill the food. I think we would be very hard-pressed to find
anyone who thinks that it does not have the clear antecedent, bear. Therefore, the
pronoun it is appropriate in this sentence.
A problem also occurs with the vague use of it.

Pronouns should refer to specific antecedents and if they don’t, an ambiguity may
occur, as in this example: “Josephine always weaved a ribbon into her daughter
Sophie’s braided hair. It made Sophie feel special.” What exactly is the “it” that
made Sophie feel special? The ribbon or the fact that her mother was doing her
hair?

You can clarify by replacing the pronoun with a specific noun phrase: “Her mother’s
attention made Sophie feel special.”
When it is used as a dummy subject, also grammatically known as an expletive, the
word is not vague.

For example, in the sentence “It usually takes fifteen minutes to drive to Annya’s
house, but with this traffic, it will take at least an hour,” the dummy subject it in both
clauses creates the active subject to name the action of taking the time to drive.
Another problem with reference occurs when the antecedent is implied but not stated.
This problem is common with demonstrative pronouns such as this or that. These
pronouns should refer to specific antecedents for clarity.

The pronoun this in the first item is too vague: “The new policy limiting the number of
dogs per household takes effect this week. Some residents object to this.” The word
this refers vaguely to the sentence that comes before. The residents could object to
the policy or to the speed with which the policy is taking effect.

The revised item replaces the vague pronoun this with a specific noun to clarify the
reference. “Some residents object to this policy.”
The pronoun they is also frequently used too vaguely when it has no clearly defined
referent.

Take this example: “In California, they passed a law banning single-use plastic
bags in large retail stores.” The pronoun they may create confusion for the reader:
who is they, exactly?

Clarify this type of sentence by replacing they with a specific noun: “In California,
voters approved a law banning single-use plastic bags in large retail stores.”
When a writer is in doubt about whether a pronoun has a clear referent, the writer
should change the pronoun to a noun or think of a way to add context to clarify the
reference.

Additionally, when pronouns are repeated in close proximity, it may be hard for the
reader to keep track of the referent.

The first example of a set of sentences on this slide illustrates these points.

“Men employed by the CCC lived with their families in camps that they themselves
built. They surveyed land, built roads, and constructed water systems.”

Notice the repetition of they from the first to the second sentence. Additionally, each
they could refer back to either the men or to the families, both logical antecedents.
The ambiguity and the repetition can be avoided by simply using a noun to replace
the first they, and by adding an adverb to provide a bit more context to the second
sentence like this: “Men employed by the CCC lived with their families in camps
that the men themselves built. They also surveyed land, built roads, and
constructed water systems.” The word also helps the reader see that the sentence
is still referring to the men, not their families.
Another problem with implied reference that we should guard against is the misuse
of the pronoun you.

The subject pronoun you should be reserved only for situations in which the writer
is directly addressing the reader. The pronoun you should not be used as a
substitute for a more specific noun, such as women in this example.

The first sentence uses you incorrectly because the sentence is not intended to
directly address the reader. “After the passage of the Married Women’s Property
Act, you could retain ownership of property that you had acquired before marriage.”

The sentence is correctly revised when the pronoun you is replaced with the noun
women. “Women could retain ownership that they had acquired before marriage.”
Notice that in the corrected version the pronoun they clearly and correctly refers
back to the noun women.
Grammatically, it is correct to use the second person pronoun “you” when the writer
is specifically addressing the reader. For example, all three sentences on this slide
are correct:

“You can’t help but smile at a cute little kitten.”

“One can’t help smiling at a cute little kitten.”

“A person can’t help but smile at a cute little kitten.”

It is important to remember that the second person “you” is generally considered to
be an informal, casual style of writing. We commonly use “you” when giving advice
or giving an instruction to the reader, but for formal writing, it is a good idea not to
use you as a subject.

Here is a sentence with you as the subject: “You need to dress warmly in cold
weather.” If this sentence feels too informal for your writing, you might think about
replacing it with the pronoun one. However, here is a note of caution: use the
indefinite pronoun one sparingly. Using the pronoun one too much can sometimes
cause writing to sound a bit stuffy.

Take, for example, this sentence: “One needs to dress warmly in cold weather.”
The sentence with the subject one may sound a little too formal and even pompous,
especially when giving advice or an instruction.

Finally, the sentence may also be restructured like this: “It is important to dress
warmly in cold weather” or “Be sure to dress warmly in cold weather.” These
sentences may be used at any register of formality.
Another problem with pronoun reference occurs when the pronoun and antecedent
are too far apart. The antecedent needs to be close enough to the pronoun to make
it clear what the pronoun is referring to.

Read this paragraph: “Stage crew workers at our local theater create various types
of sets for comedies, dramas, and musicals, and they work with actors of all
personalities. Those who work on musicals are always humming to themselves.”

The second sentence of the paragraph uses the demonstrative pronoun Those, but
the pronoun is very far away from its antecedent Stage crew workers. Additionally,
there are many plural nouns between the true antecedent and the pronoun that
could be possible grammatical antecedents.

The problem can be fixed by replacing the pronoun those with the specific noun
that it refers to when beginning the sentence: “Crew members who work on
musicals . . . .”
Now let’s talk about possessives and pronoun reference.

Some style manuals say that a subject pronoun may have a possessive noun as its
antecedent. But some writers say that because a possessive noun is functioning as
an adjective, the pronoun cannot refer back to the adjective, only to a noun.

Notice that when a subject pronoun referent is a possessive noun, the pronoun
reference may be unclear.

In the sentence “In Mr. Hahn’s class, he talks a lot about finding good resources,”
the writer uses the pronoun he to refer back to the possessive Mr. Hahn’s. With no
context, or in certain contexts, it can be argued that the subject he could actually be
describing any male person in the class.

You can revise the sentence by making the subject of the independent clause a
noun that serves as the referent, like this: “In his class, Mr. Hahn talks a lot about
finding good resources.” The word his now has a clear noun as its referent, Mr.
Hahn.
In Lesson 1 you learned about reflexive pronouns. They are the object pronouns
that end in –self or –selves.

Reflexive pronouns are objects that are the same person or thing as the subject of
the sentence. They are called reflexive because they reflect back to the subject.

This slide shows two examples of sentences that have reflexive pronouns.

First, “Minnie and Mickey laughed themselves silly.” The object reflexive pronoun
themselves is the same as the subject Minnie and Mickey, the subject that the
pronoun reflects back to.

Second, “I watched myself in the video.” The object reflexive pronoun myself is the
same as I, the subject that the pronoun reflects back to.
A reflexive pronoun that is often misused is myself. Myself cannot be a subject, and
it cannot be an object if it does not have the subject noun or pronoun to reflect back
on.

This sentence uses myself incorrectly: “Yuki and myself are event co-chairs.” The
pronoun myself is incorrectly used as a subject. It does not have another noun or
pronoun that it reflects back to. The sentence is written correctly when the subject
pronoun I is used instead of myself: “Yuki and I are event co-chairs.”

Here is another sentence that uses myself incorrectly: “The agenda was written by
Yuki and myself.” The pronoun myself does not have a subject to reflect back on.
The sentence is written correctly when myself is replaced with the object pronoun
me: “The agenda was written by Yuki and me.”
This has been the final lecture of Lesson 6.

There is a Pause & Process section to look at next, which contains a “Check Your
Knowledge” exercise.

If you have any questions, please post them in the Discussion Board “Ask the
Instructor” forum.