Business English 2 - Task 3

Antecedents of pronouns

The English language includes pronouns, such as she, it, or they. Pronouns are generic words that have little meaning on their own. If you hear a friend say, "She is beautiful," you know your friend is referring to a singular, feminine being or object, but with just the pronoun she, you don't know if the discussion concerns a woman, a cheetah, or an automobile. You cannot picture the she until you know the antecedent, the word that this pronoun refers to or replaces.

Antecedents with Personal Pronouns

Often, an antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause that you replace with one of these third-person personal pronouns:

• He, him, his, himself 
• She, her, hers, herself 
• It, its, itself 
• They, them, their, theirs, themselves

Examples:

• Ariana drop her bag

   Ariana = antecedent; her = personal pronoun.

• Our carnivorous friends will not attend the picnic because they despise tofu hotdogs and black bean burgers.

   Friends = antecedent; they = personal pronoun.

• When Karin sprained his ankle, Coach Adele replaced him with Julian, a much slower runner.

   Karin = antecedent; him = personal pronoun.

• Eating with your mouth closed has several benefits. Most importantly, it keeps people from turning away in disgust.

   Eating with your mouth closed = phrase as antecedent; it = personal pronoun.

• Resmee hopes that her roommates remember to walk the new puppy. It will mean less urine to mop up when she gets home.

   That her roommates remember to walk the new puppy = clause as antecedent; it = personal pronoun.

Antecedents with Demonstrative Pronouns

Other times, the antecedent might be the word, phrase, or clause that a demonstrative pronoun replaces.

Demonstrative Pronouns: this, that, these, those

Examples:

• Jade rides his skateboard to work. Now this is an eco-friendly mode of transportation.

   Skateboard = antecedent; this = demonstrative pronoun.

• You need to work on throwing large, unwieldy objects and catching heavy things. Those are the skills you must acquire to be a successful chainsaw juggler.

   Throwing large, unwieldy objects, catching heavy things = phrases as antecedents; those = demonstrative pronoun.

• Franda prays that the neighbors will keep their barking dog inside. That will allow her to get a good night's sleep.

   That the neighbors will keep their barking dog inside = clause as antecedent; that [the second one] = demonstrative pronoun.

Antecedents with Relative Pronouns

And sometimes the antecedent is the point of reference for a relative pronoun.

Relative Pronouns : who, whom, whose, that, which.

Examples:

• Principal Meyers, whose nose hair curled outside his nostrils, delivered the morning announcements.

   Principal Meyers = antecedent; whose = relative pronoun.

• The dish that contains the leftover squid eyeball stew cannot go in the microwave.

   Dish = antecedent; that = relative pronoun.

• Eating ice cream for dinner, which might not be nutritionally smart, is what Teresa wanted after her long day of waitressing.

   Eating ice cream for dinner = antecedent; which = relative pronoun.

Dangling constructions

A dangling construction is a group of words that the writer intends to be a modifier for a noun or phrase but the noun or phrase is not actually in the sentence.  Instead, the modifier erroneously describes a noun or phrase that is in the sentence - sometimes with humorous results. 

 examples.

• After eating, the waiter gave us the bill. (The sentence grammar says the waiter did the eating but that's not what the writer really means.)
• While running, my shoe lost its heel. (I couldn’t slow that shoe down!)
• To avoid extinction, researchers hope to breed in captivity.
• After taking a three-month bicycle trip through Montana, my dog was happy to see me.
• After reading the book, the movie is going to be great.
• Wrapped in wax paper, the picnickers couldn't see if the sandwiches were tuna or egg salad.
• Rolling down the hill, Larry saw an avalance of rocks approaching.
• After placing bets, the horses headed to the starting gate.

Similar to dangling modifiers are misplaced modifiers.

• I saw penguins on a trip to the zoo. (I hope the penguins enjoyed their visit!)
• Jake shot an elephant in his pajamas. (Jake never did explain how the elephant got into his PJ’s).
• Mike caught the fly ball running backwards.
• I found a lottery ticket walking home.