Grammar Tip: The Ambiguous Antecedent
Have you ever found yourself re-reading a sentence because you came across a word such as "it" or "them" and
could not tell which of two things it referred to?
You probably do not want your readers to puzzle over the same thing. This grammar tip describes a common error in
the use of pronouns to help you avoid this problem.
A pronoun (e.g., you, ours, she, this, whom, which, himself) takes the place of a noun or another pronoun, often
to avoid repetition. The noun, pronoun, or clause that a pronoun refers to, called an antecedent,
usually appears earlier in the sentence, although it can also appear later.
A pronoun should refer to one specific antecedent. An ambiguous pronoun antecedent occurs when a pronoun has
two or more possible antecedents.
Examples
In the following example, does the pronoun it refer to the first study or to
the second study?
Example
The second study was designed to enrol 2000 more
participants than the first study. It tested three dose levels of the study drug.
The corrections show how the sentence can be written more clearly. One way is to
rearrange it and delete the pronoun, as shown in the first correction. In the second correction, shortening the
sentence and deleting the pronoun produces the same result.
Correction 1
The second study, which tested three dose levels of the study drug, was designed to enrol 2000 more participants
than the first study.
Correction 2
The second study, designed to enrol 2000 more participants than the first study, tested three dose levels of the
study drug.
In the next example, the pronoun them sets up an amusing possibility: McFarlane
et al. either presented their study results or presented the previous researchers!
The pronoun those is not ambiguous because it refers to only one antecedent (results).
Example
McFarlane et al. compared their study results with those of
previous researchers and presented them at the conference.
Correction
At the conference, McFarlane et al. presented their study
results, which they had compared with those of previous researchers.
Quick Tips: The Ambiguous Antecedent
- Re-read your document, paying close attention to each pronoun to ensure that it refers to
only one antecedent.
- To correct an ambiguous antecedent, remove the pronoun, shorten the sentence, or rearrange
sentence elements. You may need to do all three.
Source
The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press;
2003.
Do you have a question or comment about this tip? Simply
contact me online and I'll be pleased to help.
