Making pronoun references clear flashcards quizlet. For example, i n the sentence anne left the party because she felt unwell. Just as a chameleon changes its color to coordinate with its environment, a pronoun alters. When gloria set the pitcher on the glass table, it broke the pitcher broke when gloria set it on the glass table. Coreference resolution is an important task for natural language understanding, and the resolution of ambiguous pronouns a. Make pronouns agree in person and number with their antecedents. The singular possessive pronoun his is used incorrectly because it refers to the plural antecedent parents. You can enter your answers directly into this document. The antecedent is the word or words that a pronoun replaces. Because the noun usually precedes the pronoun, the noun to which the pronoun refers is called the antecedent latin. Vague pronoun reference a pronoun without a specific antecedent.
When pronouns like it, this, that, and which are referred to a concept that implied or word rather than a certain following noun. You could fix this either by referring to both women with they, if it is indeed the case that both were honored at the awards ceremony after dinner, or by replacing she with the name of the woman being specified. You should not use adjectives, or nouns or pronouns in the possessive case, as antecedents. The problem stems from the difference between how we use. Understanding pronouns a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun.
Which methods may be used to correct ambiguous pronoun references. The rule a pronoun must refer to a single noun, which acts as its antecedent. Most often a reader will try to connect the pronoun with the subject of a previous clause or sentence. Test your knowledge of ambiguous pronouns by completing this quiz and worksheet.
We use cookies to make interactions with our website easy and meaningful, to better understand the use of our services, and to tailor advertising. An ambiguous pronoun reference is one in which the antecedent is not clear. When jon asked his father if he could borrow the car, jon said he needed it to go to. Pdf ambiguous pronoun use in narratives of children with. Do not use they when referring to unspecified persons. The effect of thematic roles on pronoun use and frequency of reference. A pronoun should not refer to adjectives or possessive nouns.
Pronouns work well when they stand in for specific nouns, but sometimes they are used to refer to vague, unnamed entities. The joke works precisely because you first interpret it one way without any difficulty, and then the punchline insists on interpreting it differently. Pronoun resolution is part of coreference resolution, the task of pairing an expression to its referring entity. Print exposure predicts pronoun comprehension strategies in children. Using pronouns the writing centre university of ottawa. Vague pronoun reference sometimes faulty pronoun reference occurs, not because there are too many nouns possibly being referred to, but because there is none. Modifiers, such as possessives, cannot serve as antecedents. The plural pronoun their correctly refers to the plural word parents. Pronoun comprehension and production in children with and without autism.
To avoid a vague pronoun reference, make sure that a pronoun cannot possibly refer to more than one antecedent. There is no single rule for making pronoun reference clear in all cases. A pronouns reference will be unclear if it is ambiguous, implied, vague or indefinite. Faulty pronoun reference is one of the most serious errors in writing because it can keep the reader from understanding your message. A pronoun is a word used to stand for or take the place of a noun a pronoun should refer clearly to one, clear, unmistakable noun coming before the pronoun. As a result, the reader cannot know for sure whether kara sold the disk or the cabinet. This noun is called the pronouns antecedent unfortunately, it is very easy to create a sentence that uses a pronoun without a clear, unmistakable noun antecedent. An ambiguous pronoun is one that is used in a confusing or vague manner. If the revised sentence does not improve the pronoun reference, choose no improvement was made. Combined all the articles in this series and added a single pdf. You must be very careful when using pronouns in order to be sure that your reader understands what. Outlaw they seriously consider publishing short story collections when some of the stories. Exercise caution when you have two singular antecedents with the same. The modifier is technically not a noun, so it may not function as an antecedent.
Unless theres some mysterious it in the book, this is wrong. The pronoun reference is faulty here because the pronoun it has two antecedents. This paper presents a strong set of results for resolving gendered ambiguous pronouns on the gendered ambiguous pronouns. Therefore we can again say that the positions of the antecedent and pronoun do not matter as long as the reference is unique and logical. Demonstrative pronounsthis, that, these, thoseare legitimate parts of the english language. We use pronouns to avoid repeating a word again and again. A pronoun takes the place of a noun, but a pronoun must always refer clearly to its antecedent, which is the noun that the pronoun replaces. If youre not careful, several common situations will create unclear pronoun reference. Such errors, called faulty or vague pronoun reference, can confuse readers and obscure the intended meaning. The files arranged by the temporary workers were out of order, so we sent them back to the main office. Better writing avoiding vague and ambiguous pronoun references. The pronoun it can refer to the noun union or to the implied process of decision making. Avoid most pronoun reference problems by following these rules.
However, sometimes ambiguity is used deliberately to add humor to a text. Rewrite the following sentences, correcting the ambiguous pronoun reference example. Learning speechinternal cues to pronoun interpretation from co. When jon asked his father if he could borrow the car, he said he needed it to go to work. The ball rolled down the hallway becomes the ball fell off the table. An ambiguous pronoun happens when more than one feasible antecedent subsist. Ambiguous reference occurs when a pronoun can refer to more than one antecedent. Ambiguous reference sometimes called double reference occurs when there are two possible antecedents for a single pronoun.
Nick used to love water skiing and swimming in florida lakes, but now he worries. You can answer the practice questions before, during or after you. In the book it says that sharks must move in order to breathe. Avoiding vague pronoun references macmillanmcgrawhill. A faulty pronoun reference will result in a muddled sentence and a confused reader. The effect of thematic roles on pronoun use and frequency of reference continuation.
Since the legal profession is highly valued by the public, they are very well paid. Vague and ambiguous pronoun reference by hannah jackson on. In traditional grammar, a construction in which a pronoun doesnt refer clearly and unambiguously to its antecedent is called faulty pronoun reference. Ambiguous pronoun reference a pronoun with multiple, possible antecedents. Ambiguous reference an ambiguous reference occurs when the pronoun could refer to two. When you make statements that are ambiguous, you confuse the reader and hinder the meaning of the text. The pronoun it does not have a clear noun antecedent. Pronoun reference is the practice of making pronouns refer clearly to the words they replace. If a pronoun could refer to more than one person or object in a sentence, repeat the name of the individual or. If a pronoun seems to refer to more than one antecedent, either reword the sentence to make the antecedent clear or eliminate the pronoun. Ambiguous pronoun interpretation was tested pre and posttraining. To be understood, a pronoun must refer clearly to a single nearby antecedent.
The word a pronoun refers to is called its antecedent. A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or refers back to a noun already mentioned. Making pronoun references clear memorial university. A pronoun depends on a noun called the pronouns antecedent for meaning. Making pronoun references clear pronouns substitute for nouns. I think mike cruickshanks new profit maximiser service is going to be one of the big hits and i can say hand on heart, if you follow the instructions, and just get involved, you will make a lot of money over the coming weeks, months and years. In the above sentences, henry viii is the antecedent and he is the pronoun. Terms in this set 4 avoid ambiguous or remote pronoun reference.
Better writing avoiding vague and ambiguous pronoun. Whenever pronouns are used, it should be unmistakably clear which noun the pronoun is standing in for. It is not yet clear how the drug raprime affects the body. An ambiguous pronoun reference can be corrected or avoided in several ways.
A pronoun must refer to a single noun, which acts as its antecedent. Avoiding vague and ambiguous pronoun references vocabulary antecedent the noun which a pronoun substitutes for or refers to. Pronoun reference and antecedent agreement its not as bad as it sounds. Singular pronouns are used with singular antecedents, and plural pronouns are used with plural. Pronouns are words that stand in for a noun in a sentence. Unclear pronoun reference, along with a mismatch between the pronoun and its referent or antecedent, the word the pronoun is intended to replace, are issues that frequently cause students trouble. A pronoun must usually refer to a specific noun, called its referent or antecedent. Faulty pronoun reference means the antecedent of your pronoun is not totally and immediately clear. Many people a who buy a new puppy believe that the young dog should automatically behave as well as lassie, b who had years of obedience training and c which was a mature animal with control of her bladder. You probably do not want your readers to puzzle over the same thing. Childrens use of gesture in ambiguous pronoun interpretation volume 42 issue 3. Here is another example of faulty pronoun reference where a pronoun is asked to refer to a whole group of words instead of a clear, single noun antecedent.
Nicks hair is so long that this young man really needs to visit a barber before his interview at the bank. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Pronoun reference recognize pronoun reference when you see it. Its worth noting that while the sentence is grammatically ambiguous in the use of the pronoun, its meaning is not ambiguous. Identify the method used to correct the ambiguous pronoun reference. If a reader does not know which of two or three earlier nouns a pronoun stands for, grammar books call that an ambiguous reference error. Exercise on vague or unclear pronoun reference in the following pairs of sentences, one sentence is correct, and the other sentence contains a vague or ambiguous pronoun reference. Roger told david that he himself had to work monday.
Created by shreese williams information from real good grammar, too by mamie hixon revised by. Childrens use of gesture in ambiguous pronoun interpretation. Vague pronoun reference vague pronoun reference occurs in two situations. In one sentence, for example, the pronoun he might mean zippy the dog. The pronoun it can refer to the noun body or to the entire statement, telling you that your body is beautiful. Infants contribution to the achievement of joint reference. Drafting legal documents, ambiguity national archives.
A pronoun may point back to other items in a text anaphoric reference orless commonlypoint ahead to a later part of the text cataphoric reference. Also, it must be clear which noun the pronoun is substituting for. Clara opened the door becomes clara sighed heavily. But you must use them with care because, in some constructions, the antecedents of these pronouns can be vague.
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