The main use of pronouns is to refer in a brief, convenient form to some antecedent that has already been named. A pronoun usually has a noun or another pronoun as its antecedent. Often the antecedent is the subject or object of the same clause in which the pronoun appears.
Josie hit the ball after its first bounce.
Smashing into Greg, the ball knocked off his glasses.
The antecedent also can appear in a different clause or even a different sentence from the pronoun.
Josie hit the ball when it bounced back to her.
The ball smashed into Greg. It knocked off his glasses.
A pronoun as well as a noun can be an antecedent.
My dog hid in the closet when she had her puppies. [Dog is the antecedent of she; she is the antecedent of her.]
| 6a | Name the pronoun’s antecedent: don’t just imply it |
antecedent: The word to which a pronoun refers: Lyn plays golf, and she putts well.
When editing, be sure you have identified clearly the antecedent of each pronoun. A writer who leaves a key idea unsaid is likely to confuse readers.
| VAGUE | Ted wanted a Norwegian canoe because he’d heard that they produce the lightest canoes afloat. |
What noun or pronoun does they refer to? Not to Norwegian, which is an adjective. We may guess that this writer has in mind Norwegian canoe builders, but no such noun has been mentioned. To make the sentence work, the writer must supply an antecedent for they.
For more on choosing that or which, see 21e.
Be sure to use relative pronouns (who, whose, which, that) correctly in sentences with adjective clauses. Use who, not which, for a person. Select that to introduce necessary information that defines or specifies; reserve which for additional, but not defining, information.
| INCORRECT | The woman gave us directions to the museum told us not to miss the Picasso exhibit. |
| CORRECT | The woman who gave us directions to the museum told us not to miss the Picasso exhibit. [Who is the subject of the adjective clause.] |
| FORMAL | Jamal forgot to return the book that I gave him. [That is the object of gave.] |
| INFORMAL | Jamal forgot to return the book I gave him. [The relative pronoun that is implied.] |
| FORMAL | This is the box in which we found the jewelry. [Which is the object of the preposition in.] |
| INFORMAL | This is the box we found the jewelry in. [The relative pronoun which is implied.] |
NOTE: When the relative pronoun is omitted, the preposition moves to the end of the sentence but must not be left out.
| INCORRECT | I bought a chair that its legs were wobbly. |
| CORRECT | I bought a chair whose legs were wobbly. |
NOTE: When in doubt about a pronoun, you can rephrase the sentence: I bought a chair with wobbly legs.
| CLEAR | Ted wanted a Norwegian canoe because he’d heard that Norway produces [or Norwegians produce] the lightest canoes afloat. |
Watch out for possessive nouns. They won’t work as antecedents.
| VAGUE | On William’s canoe, he painted a skull and bones. |
| CLEAR | On his canoe, William painted a skull and bones. |
| VAGUE | In Hemingway’s story, he describes the powerful sea. |
| CLEAR | In the story, Hemingway describes the powerful sea. |
| 6b | Give the pronoun it, this, that, or which a clear antecedent |
antecedent: The word to which a pronoun refers: Lyn plays golf, and she putts well.
Vagueness arises, thick as fog, whenever it, this, that, or which points to something a writer assumes is said but indeed isn’t. Often the best way out of the fog is to substitute a specific noun or expression for the pronoun.
| VAGUE | I was an only child, and it was hard. |
| CLEAR | I was an only child, and my solitary life was hard. |
| VAGUE | Judy could not get along with her younger brother. This is the reason she wanted to get her own apartment. |
| CLEAR | Because Judy could not get along with her younger brother, she wanted to get her own apartment. |
| 6c | Make the pronoun’s antecedent clear |
Confusion strikes if a pronoun points in two or more directions. When more than one antecedent is possible, the reader wonders which the writer means.
| CONFUSING | Hanwei shouted to Kenny to take off his burning sweater. |
Whose sweater does his mean — Kenny’s or Hanwei’s? Simply changing a pronoun won’t clear up the confusion. The writer needs to revise enough to move the two possible antecedents out of each other’s way.
| CLEAR | “Kenny!” shouted Hanwei. “Your sweater’s on fire! Take it off!” |
| CLEAR | Flames were shooting from Kenny’s sweater. Hanwei shouted to Kenny to take it off. |
| CLEAR | Hanwei realized that his sweater was on fire and shouted to Kenny for help. |
| 6d | Place the pronoun close to its antecedent to keep the relationship clear |
Watch out for distractions that slip in between noun and pronoun. If your sentence contains two or more nouns that look like antecedents to a pronoun, your readers may become bewildered.
antecedent: The word to which a pronoun refers: Lyn plays golf, and she putts well.
| CONFUSING | Harper steered his dinghy alongside the cabin cruiser that the drug smugglers had left anchored under an overhanging willow in the tiny harbor and eased it to a stop. |
What did Harper ease to a stop? By the time readers reach the end of the sentence, they are likely to have forgotten. To avoid confusion, keep the pronoun and its antecedent reasonably close together.
| CLEAR | Harper steered his dinghy into the tiny harbor and eased it to a stop alongside the cabin cruiser that the drug smugglers had left anchored under an overhanging willow. |
Never force your readers to stop and think, “What does that pronoun stand for?” You, the writer, have to do this thinking for them.