Pronouns and clear antecedents

Pronouns replace nouns#

A pronoun stands in for a noun or noun phrase. The word it refers to is its antecedent.

“Mina reviewed the paragraph because she wanted to improve it.” The pronoun she refers to Mina, and it refers to the paragraph.

Match number#

A singular antecedent normally takes a singular pronoun, and a plural antecedent takes a plural pronoun.

• The learner checked her answer.
• The learners checked their answers.
• The device lost its connection.

Singular they is widely used when a person's gender is unknown, irrelevant, or represented by they: “Each applicant should check their email.” An editor may also rewrite the sentence in the plural: “Applicants should check their email.”

Choose the correct pronoun form#

Use a subject pronoun when the pronoun performs the action.

• She explained the method.
• They completed the exercise.

Use an object pronoun after a verb or preposition.

• The teacher helped him.
• The message was sent to us.

A useful test is to remove the other noun from a compound phrase. “Sara and I revised” is correct because “I revised” is correct. “The tutor helped Sara and me” is correct because “The tutor helped me” is correct.

Make the antecedent clear#

A reader should not have to guess which noun a pronoun replaces.

Ambiguous: “When Aisha spoke to Sana, she was worried.”

Clear: “Aisha was worried when she spoke to Sana.”

Clear: “When Aisha spoke to Sana, Sana seemed worried.”

Repeating a name can be clearer than using an ambiguous pronoun.

Avoid empty references#

Words such as this, that, and it can become vague when they refer to a whole earlier idea.

Vague: “The instructions changed after the test. This was confusing.”

Clearer: “The change in instructions was confusing.”

Adding a summary noun after this can also help: “This change was confusing.”

Common mistakes#

Switching number

“A student should organise their notes” uses accepted singular they, but “A student should organise your notes” shifts unexpectedly from third person to second person.

Using an object form as the subject

Write “Ahmed and I prepared the slides,” not “Ahmed and me prepared the slides.”

Hiding the antecedent

In “They say the exam is difficult,” they has no clear antecedent. Name the source when it matters, or rewrite the claim without an unsupported reference.

Final clarity check#

Circle each pronoun and draw a line to its antecedent. If two lines seem possible, replace the pronoun or rewrite the sentence.