Anaphora

We make a distinction between a new

referent and referring back to them

A man (new referrent)

The man (referring back)
I saw a man under the tree. The man was wearing a white
shirt.
I met a new friend. He is from Sweden.
• We saw a funny home video about a boy washing a puppy in a small
bath.
• The puppy started struggling and shaking and the boy got really wet.
• When he let go, it jumped out of the bath and ran away.
• We saw a funny home video about a boy washing a puppy in a small bath.
• The puppy started struggling and shaking and the boy got really wet.
• When he let go, it jumped out of the bath and ran away.
A pupppy, the puppy, it

Anaphora (referring back)= the puppy, it

Antecedent (first mention)= a puppy
Find more examples of anaphora and antecedent

• We saw a funny home video about a boy washing a puppy in a small bath.
• The puppy started struggling and shaking and the boy got really wet.
• When he let go, it jumped out of the bath and ran away.
Anaphoric expresions: the puppy, the boy, he , it, the bath

Antecedents: a boy, a puppy, a small bath

So, how can Anaphora be defined?

Anaphora is “subsequent reference to an already introduced entity.”

We found a house to rent, but the kitchen was very small.

I caught a bus and asked the driver if it went near the downtown area.
Cataphora

When he was on his way to shool, Ahmed saw a terrible accident.

Cataphora is the use of a linguistic unit that has the same reference as
a following word or phrase. (Replace “following” with “preceeding”
and you will get the definition of “anaphora”!)

• If you want some, here's some parmesan cheese.

• After he had received his orders, the soldier left the barracks.
• If you want them, there are cookies in the kitchen.
• After he finished his exam, Fahad waited for Mazen in his car.
 From Anaphora to Cataphora:

Try changing the cataphoric expressions to anaphoric ones

and make the necessary changes:

• If you want some, here's some parmesan cheese.

• After he had received his orders, the soldier left the
barracks.
• If you want them, there are cookies in the kitchen.
Answers:

If you want parmesan cheese, here's some

Look at the underlined word(s) and decide whether they
are examples of anaphora or cataphora

The students in that shool like to

play foosball. They almost never
play any other game!
When he arrived home, John
went to sleep.
Give your own
examples!