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Antecedent
Phonetics:
æntɪˈsiːdnt
Pronunciation:
Cracking the Code of Antecedent in English Grammar
Comprehensive Definition, Description, Examples & Rules
Introduction to Antecedents
In a sentence, how do we make sure that we are talking about a particular thing or a person? There are many conclusions all around English grammar, and without proper context, it is difficult to understand who is referring to whom. Without any quotations or references, it is difficult to understand why in a sentence, a person is referring to something only with the pronoun. It even may not be clear that we are talking about a person here or referring to a pet. In such a state, we can use antecedent in a sentence.
For instance, how do we know that “we are talking about it”? In this particular sentence, we don’t know whom we are talking about or which thing we are talking about. Only reading such a sentence can bring in many answers from many perspectives. If we say that “antecedent is a great topic, we are talking about it today.” Here the word “antecedent” is the antecedent we will discuss. Let us understand in more depth to learn better.
Antecedent’s definition, according to Collins Dictionary, is ” a word or phrase to which a pronoun refers.” Any preceding sentence which is referring to the pronoun in the use sentence afterwards is known as an antecedent. Pronouns are nouns put up in place to avoid repetition of personal nouns such as name, place, or thing. Describing and giving more information in the sentences with the help of any kind of personal noun, i.e. name, place, or thing, is known as antecedent.
This might seem confusing at first, but it is very easy, along with an example. Follow on to understand better.
For example,
- Without an antecedent: He needs to go out and get some air.
- With an antecedent: The dog named Bronie — He needs to go out and get some air.
In this example, as we see in the first sentence without an antecedent, it is simply written that he needs to go out and get some air, but the question will arise in the reader’s or the listener’s mind: who needs to go out and get some fresh air? In the second sentence, there is another clause preceding the pronoun as antecedent that the dog named Bronie needs to go out.
Types of Antecedents
One can find various kinds of antecedents in English grammar with different characteristics and uses. Let us, in the next section, look at these antecedents.
Personal Pronoun Antecedents: Definition and Examples
Personal Pronoun Antecedents are very common in sentences to look out for. It makes the context more clear to readers and listeners by adding the information that who we are talking about. Personal pronoun will always refer to a name, place, or thing with respect to its number, gender and other personal qualities.
- For example, (Name)
James is a good choice—he will look after the dance hall.
Chelsey is Perfect—she needs to take care of the children.
Bronie is barking—he needs to calm down.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the pronoun will only indicate the gender of the person or creature, stating different sentences like even look after the dance hall, she needs to take care of the children, he needs to calm down. Without antecedents, it would be very difficult to gain additional information, which is necessary to know as it conveys the purpose of the sentence. In this example, we can see that the antecedents like Vikas, Chelsey and Bronie clarify all the confusion by giving a personal name to it. In the last sentence, we can also see that “Bronie” is a pet name, clarifying that the subject here is an animal.
- For example, (Place)
The river—it is more beautiful than ever.
The adventure park is Scary—it’s quite a journey to explore!
My home—it is a precious little place to stay.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, it is unclear what “it” is and where. Such as what is more beautiful than ever, where it is? What’s quite a journey to explore? Where and what is a precious little place to stay? These questions remain unanswered. With antecedents such as the river, the Adventure Park, and the home, answers all the questions and complete the sentence with the whole information.
- For example, (Thing)
The ball is tough—it must be made out of wood.
The lamp is glowing—it’s so luminous.
The stairs are tricky— We must stay careful and avoid falling.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, we can assume that anything made out of wood and anything can be luminous. In the last sentence, we don’t get enough information about what it is that we stay careful about and avoid falling. The antecedents like ball, lamp, and stairs make it clear that “the bat is made out of wood; the lamp is glowing, making it so Luminous; the stairs are tricky, and one must be careful about” completing the sentence and giving a piece of whole information.
Demonstrative Pronoun Antecedents: Definition and Examples
Any pronouns which indicate a name, place, or thing as a group or a specific. These refer to the pronouns “these”, “those”, “this”, and “that”.
A group of any objects, people or places will precede with pronouns in “these”, “those”, “this”, and “that”.
- For example, (They)
The flock of birds are flying by— they look so pretty.
The bouquets in the hall — they look so vibrant.
The books in the library— they look so clutched on the stage.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the reader or listener will be lost in what looks so pretty, vibrant, and clutched on the stage. Anything plural in a noun can be indicated by demonstrative pronoun antecedence. Here the flock of birds, bouquets, and books in plural are indicated by the antecedent “they”.
- For example, (That)
The roads in the corner are dark—that are dangerous to travel by.
The fishes in the river—that are going behind the bushes.
The bears in the forest—that are black in fur are fierce.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the reader or listener will be confused as to “what is dangerous to travel by; what is going behind the bushes; and who is fierce in a black fur.” with the antecedents, the sentences hold a clear meaning. The roads in the corner are dark and dangerous to travel by, the bears in the forest, which have black fur, are fierce, and the fishes in the river are going behind the bushes.
- For example, (These)
The books are rare— these are exported.
The vases around the pottery class are scattered—these are delicate.
The nets in the ground— these are to be stored.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the reader or listener will be lost in what is exported, delicate, and to be stored. With the help of antecedents, we know that the books are there which are to be exported, the vases around the pottery class are scattered, which are delicate, the nets in the ground are to be stored.
- For example, (Those)
Bees are in the hives—those are venomous.
Vases are kept in the corner—those are precious.
Flowers in red are about to dry— those have very pleasant scents.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the reader or listener will have difficulty in finding those that are venomous, precious and have a pleasant smell. With the antecedents, the readers get to know that the venomous bees are in the hives; the vases kept in the corner are precious, and the flowers in red have a very pleasant smell and are about to dry.
Relative Pronoun Antecedents: Definition and Examples
Relative pronoun antecedent is a kind of antecedent that replaces a noun or a pronoun to connect a dependent clause to an independent clause and include whom, whose, who, that and which.
- For Example, (Whom)
The woman to whom I gave bread was my mother-in-law.
The child to whom I borrowed money today was a genius.
The lady whom you saw with me was my fiance.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, it is unclear who the bread was given to, who the genius was, and who the fiance was. With the antecedent women, child and lady, the relative pronoun whom with the dependent clause provides a meaningful subject to the sentence.
- For Example, (Whose)
I don’t know whose wallet is in the colour red.
We don’t know whose dress was not fitting backstage.
I never look out for those whose problems are messier to clear while investigating.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the dependent sentences do not give a clear meaning. The antecedent here is the pronoun “I” and “we”. With the antecedent, we know that I never knew whose wallet was in the colour red, we never knew whose dress was not fitting backstage, and I never investigated those problems which are messier to clear.
- For Example, (Who)
It was a group of boys who were hanging out near the hall.
The tall boy who was roaming around her saw the girl.
The old granny who lives beside the store was singing.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, it is not clear who was hanging near the hall, who was roaming around, and who was singing beside the store. We have a clear meaning to the sentence with the antecedent, the group of boys, the tall boy and the old granny.
- For Example, (That)
The dogs that were roaming around were cute.
The books that were thrown yesterday.
The playground that we saw is huge.
Explanation: In these sentences, without an antecedent, the sentence remains very vague and unclear. With the antecedents such as dogs, books, and the playground, the sentences have clear meanings with additional information.
- For Example, (Which)
The book which was lying here.
The case which was sold yesterday.
The technology which is being used today.
Explanation: In these sentences, with an antecedent, these simple sentences gain a clear meaning and purpose. Here the antecedents are the book, the case, and the technology.
Indefinite Pronoun Antecedents: Definition and Examples
Indefinite Pronoun antecedents are those antecedents which do not specify any gender or plural forms. The pronouns can indicate any amount of people or even anyone. These pronouns are used regardless of gender, singular or plural.
- For example (Anyone),
Anyone who has seen a girl with a red dress should report it.
Anyone who is auditioning will have a grade of “A”.
Anyone who looks around for missing people will gain rewards.
Explanation: In these sentences, with the antecedent “Anyone”, the sentences became very clear that the girl with the red dress should be reported immediately, everyone who has auditioned will have a grade “A”, and people will gain rewards after looking for missing people. These sentences show that anyone who is eligible for these conditions should do the action by completing the meaning of the sentence with a proper denotation.
Here are some other similar examples that you can look out for.
- For example (Everyone),
Everyone will go out when the bell rings.
Everyone needs to check their bags for goodies.
Everyone will find out what needs to be done in the basement.
- For example (Somebody),
Somebody will die today.
Somebody needs to check out the fans.
Somebody will take care of Sohail.
Explanation: In these sentences, it is clear that antecedents are necessary to explain the whole sentence in a piece of meaningful information. Examples like anything, something, somebody, everyone and other examples indicate how necessary the use of antecedents becomes to explain the preceding clause or sentence.
Noun Antecedents: Definition and Examples
Noun Antecedents are those antecedents which replace the programs and refer back to the nouns. These are mostly in complex sentences with a high scope of narration.
- For example,
Sohail changed Rahul’s hairstyle; he didn’t like it.
The mouse was very scared since the cat was chasing it, so it was not coming out.
The rivers in the west are very cold, and the trees are growing on the side of it.
Explanation: In the sentences, we can clearly see that at the end of it, there are pronouns that describe and refer back to the noun mentioned in the beginning. Sohail changed Rahul’s hairstyle, and Rahul didn’t like it, as indicated by the pronoun “He”. The mouse was very scared since the cat was chasing it, so it was not coming out. Here the antecedent mouse has the pronoun “It” twice in the same sentence. In the last sentence, the antecedent “rivers” is indicated by the pronoun “it” while the trees grow on the side of the river.
- Antecedent Agreement Rules
The antecedent agreement rule is essential for proficiency, consistency and clarity for readers and listeners between pronouns in terms of number, gender, and person.
- Number Agreement: Definition and Examples
The number agreement indicates that if the pronoun is singular, the antecedent should be singular. If the pronoun is in the plural, then the antecedent would be in the plural too.
For example, each student should prepare his or her own lunch for school gatherings. In the sentence, the student is in singular form, indicating a singular antecedent, and pronouns his or her are used singularly.
- Gender Agreement: Definition and Examples
The gender agreement indicates that if the pronoun is male, then the antecedent should be male, and if the pronoun is female, the antecedent should be in the female perspective. If the pronoun is gender-neutral, the antecedent should be neutral too.
For example, Sheena is very beautiful—she can win any Pageant very easily. In this sentence by the name, we know that the person here is female, and we are using “She” as the pronoun.
- Person Agreement: Definition and Examples
The person agreement is also similar to other agreements. If the antecedent is in first person, the pronoun will be in first person too. If the antecedent is not in the first person, the pronoun will not be in the first person.
For example, when people go on vacation, they must prepare better. In this sentence, the people is antecedent, and the pronoun indicating it is “they”.
- Examples of Antecedents in Sentences
Here are some examples to look at:
Simple Sentences with Antecedents
- Lisa went to the store, and she bought some bread.
- The dog barked at the mailman, and he ran away.
- The book was on the shelf, and it fell to the ground.
Complex Sentences with Antecedents
- When Sarah went to the park, she saw a squirrel, and it ran up a tree.
- The students studied hard for their exam, but they still found it challenging.
- The car broke down on the highway, which caused a traffic jam.
Compound Sentences with Antecedents
- Mary went to the store, and she bought some milk, but she forgot to buy bread.
- Jack loves to play soccer, but he also enjoys playing basketball.
- Common Errors with Antecedents
Let us together look at the common errors:
- Vague or Ambiguous Antecedents: The pronoun can be placed in the wrong clauses, creating an unclear meaning in the sentences.
- Missing or Implied Antecedents: There can be cases where you can miss out on longer sentences.
- Mismatched Antecedents: The agreement for antecedents can be confusing to note down. Hence, these should be neglected.
- Tips for Using Antecedents Effectively
Here are some tips for using antecedents effectively:
- Using Clear and Specific Language: simple English is always efficient and grammatically correct. One should look out for easy words and phrases to use with antecedents.
- Maintaining Consistency in Pronoun Use: One should keep the agreements in mind and maintain consistency in pronouns, making correct antecedent sentences.
- Reviewing Sentences for Antecedent Agreement: one should always repeat the rules in mind to keep reviewing sentences for correct grammar.
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Key Takeaways
- Antecedent is a word or phrase to which a pronoun refers.
- There are various types of antecedents.
- It makes the sentence clear
- It has various agreements.
Quiz
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Frequently Asked Questions
One should check for agreements in number, gender, and person.
The gender of the antecedent will be the same as the pronoun used in the same sentence. The antecedents would be much with the pronoun in terms of singular and plural too.
The sentence will be grammatically incorrect and ambiguous to understand.
Yes, can be an antecedent be a phrase or clause, or only a word.
Not complying to agreements is known as pronoun antecedent error.
