LoginAntecedents
In this lesson we learn about antecedents, which are essential parts of a sentence that nouns refer to. Clear explanations and practice exercises to help you learn.
Antecedents: Types
'Antecedent' of a pronoun can be singular or plural, common or proper, and countable or uncountable nouns. In other words, any noun or noun phrase can be the antecedent for a pronoun. For example:
Marco went through his stuff and found a picture of himself when he was young.
Here, 'himself' refers back to 'Marco'; thus, Marco is the antecedent.
The birds were flying over the clear sky. They seemed happy.
Furthermore, noun clauses can be the antecedent of the third person neutral pronoun "it". Look at the examples:
What he said was unexpected, but it didn't change our plans.
I tried to help them, but it didn't work.
Other pro-forms can represent verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or whole sentences. Look at the examples:
She studies every night, and her brother does too.
"does" replaces the verb predicate "studies every night".
He was angry and so was I.
"so" replaces the adjective "angry"
We had a picnic at the beach. The weather was very nice there.
"there" replaces the adverb of place "at the beach"
He forgot his keys. That's unfortunate.
"that" replaces a whole sentence "He forgot his keys"
Agreement of Antecedents and Proforms
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in gender, number, and person. So keep in mind that you cannot use a singular pronoun with a plural antecedent or vice versa. However, with regards to function in the sentence, the pronoun and the antecedent act independently and do not necessarily match. In other words, the antecedent might be the subject while the pronoun referring to it might act as subject or object. Look at the examples:
Maria was a mess; I called her yesterday.
"Maria" is the subject and "her" is the object, but they agree in number, person, and gender.
The ants were trying to enter the ant hill. They all managed to do so.
The antecedent and the pronoun may also match in function.
Similarly, other pro-forms must agree with their antecedents. Pro-verbs, for example, replace verbs or verb phrases and so they must agree in tense with the antecedent verb. For example:
He wrote a book, and she did too.
The antecedent is in past tense, so the pro-verb must be in the past tense too
Pro-adverbs must also agree with the antecedent adverb. For example, if the antecedent is an adverb of place, only a pro-adverb of place can be used to represent it.
I'm headed to the library. My friend is waiting for me there.
Possessive Determiners
The possessive determiners must also agree with their antecedent. For example:
The boy used his phone to make a call.
Harry and I booked our room two months ago.
Coordinated Antecedents
When the antecedent of a pronoun consists of two coordinated nouns, the pronoun must agree with the result of the coordination rather than any of the separate antecedents. Look at the examples:
John and Mary went to the store, and they bought groceries.
Tom or I will decide, and we will announce the result.
Vague Pronouns with No Antecedents
When using pronouns in a sentence, it is important to avoid using them vaguely without a clear antecedent. While the antecedent of first and second person pronouns is typically understood to be the speaker and the listener, the third-person pronouns do not indicate a clear antecedent in themselves and can cause confusion if used without clarifying antecedent. In such cases, it is recommended to rewrite the sentence in a way that specified the antecedent. Look at the examples.
The manager spoke to the assistant before he left.
In this sentence, it is not clear who the pronoun "he" refers to: the manager or the assistant?
The book was next to the bag, but it was heavy.
What was heavy? the bag or the book?
Review
Antecedents are words that are referred back to and replaced by a pro-form. Antecedents and their pro-forms have to agree on number, gender, case, etc.
Quiz:
Sort the words to form a sentence with a pro-verb.
Identify the antecedent of each highlighted pro-form. The first one is done as example.
They decided to visit Paris, and so did we. → decided to visit Paris
John went to the store, and he bought some groceries. →
She loves playing tennis, and so does her brother. →
They are waiting at the entrance, and we will meet them there. →
He was upset, and that was understandable. →
Which of the following is true about the agreement between antecedents and pro-forms?
A pronoun must always match its antecedent in both grammatical function and form.
A pro-form can replace any word in a sentence regardless of agreement.
The antecedent of a pronoun determines its gender, number, and person.
An adverb of place can be the antecedent for any pro-adverb.
Fill the blanks based on information from the lesson. (There are two extra options.)
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in
, number, and person to ensure clarity in a sentence.
A
clause can be the antecedent of the third-person neutral pronoun "it."
Pro-verbs must match the antecedent verb in
to maintain consistency in meaning.
The pronoun and its antecedent do not have to match in
.
Which of the following sentences contains a vague pronoun?
Jessica lost her keys and had to call a locksmith to replace the lock.
Mark went to the gym in the morning, and he felt better afterward.
He asked the students to submit their assignments, but they were not ready.
The dog ran through the yard, and it jumped into the pool.
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