pronouns and antecedents
You may recall that a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or pronoun, and the word that the pronoun replaces is the antecedent. This antecedent provides the pronoun’s meaning and, thus, must be present to avoid ambiguity in your writing.
AMBIGUOUS REFERENCE
Make sure the pronoun has a clear antecedent.
Sometimes the best way to avoid ambiguity is to rephrase the entire sentence:
AMBIGUOUS The African Elephant Crossing provided Amanda and Kelsey with the best place to take her Instagram photos. [Whose photos, Amanda's or Kelsey's?]
CLEAR The African Elephant Crossing provided Amanda and Kelsey with the best place to take Amanda’s Instagram photos.
CLEAR The African Elephant Crossing provided Amanda and Kelsey with the best place to take Kelsey’s Instagram photos.
Sometimes the best way to avoid ambiguity is to rephrase the entire sentence:
AMBIGUOUS The African Elephant Crossing provided Amanda and Kelsey with the best place to take her Instagram photos. [Whose photos, Amanda's or Kelsey's?]
CLEAR The African Elephant Crossing provided Amanda and Kelsey with the best place to take Amanda’s Instagram photos.
CLEAR The African Elephant Crossing provided Amanda and Kelsey with the best place to take Kelsey’s Instagram photos.
GENERAL REFERENCE
Make sure the pronoun refers to a specific word as its antecedent, rather than a general idea. Sometimes you can fix the error by rephrasing the entire sentence or choosing a more appropriate pronoun.
AMBIGUOUS Between the Circle of Wildlife and Australian Adventure, we imagined seeing these animals in their natural habitats. It was amazing. [It has no specific antecedent.]
CLEAR Between the Circle of Wildlife and Australian Adventure, we imagined seeing these animals in their natural habitats. Our day at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was amazing.
AMBIGUOUS Between the Circle of Wildlife and Australian Adventure, we imagined seeing these animals in their natural habitats. It was amazing. [It has no specific antecedent.]
CLEAR Between the Circle of Wildlife and Australian Adventure, we imagined seeing these animals in their natural habitats. Our day at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was amazing.
INDEFINITE REFERENCE
Beware of using a pronoun with no antecedent and no structural meaning in the sentence. Often we do this when we put you, it, they, or that in the subject spot of a sentence.
INDEFINITE At many zoos you can go on field trips during the school day. [You does not refer to any specific person.]
CLEAR At many zoos students can go on field trips during the school day.
INDEFINITE On the zoo map, it shows the food court near the African Savanna. [It does not refer to any specific thing.]
CLEAR The zoo map shows the food court near the African Savanna.
INDEFINITE At many zoos you can go on field trips during the school day. [You does not refer to any specific person.]
CLEAR At many zoos students can go on field trips during the school day.
INDEFINITE On the zoo map, it shows the food court near the African Savanna. [It does not refer to any specific thing.]
CLEAR The zoo map shows the food court near the African Savanna.
WEAK REFERENCE
Sometimes a weak writer will hint at the antecedent without actually stating the word. Make sure you explicitly state the antecedent.
WEAK The zoo tries to protect wildlife around the world, and that is an important mission. [The writer did not provide the antecedent of that.]
CLEAR The zoo seeks the protection of wildlife around the world, and that is an important mission.
WEAK We spent the last hour in the Australian Adventure section, but we didn’t photograph a single one. [The writer did not provide the antecedent of one.]
CLEAR We spent the last hour in the Australian Adventures section, but we didn’t photograph a single kangaroo.
WEAK The zoo tries to protect wildlife around the world, and that is an important mission. [The writer did not provide the antecedent of that.]
CLEAR The zoo seeks the protection of wildlife around the world, and that is an important mission.
WEAK We spent the last hour in the Australian Adventure section, but we didn’t photograph a single one. [The writer did not provide the antecedent of one.]
CLEAR We spent the last hour in the Australian Adventures section, but we didn’t photograph a single kangaroo.