Identify all of the possible antecedents

Key notes:

🌟 Identify All of the Possible Antecedents 🌟

What is an Antecedent?

An antecedent is the word, phrase, or clause that a pronoun refers to.

Think of it as the “pronoun’s buddy”. 👫

Example:

• Sara loves her cat. 🐱
• “her” refers to Sara → Sara is the antecedent.

Why Identify All Possible Antecedents? 🤔

Sometimes, a pronoun could refer to more than one word.

To avoid confusion, we must look carefully at the sentence. 👀

Example:

Liam told Alex that he would win the race. 🏃‍♂️

Who does “he” refer to?

• Could be Liam ✅
• Could be Alex ✅

Steps to Identify All Possible Antecedents 📝

Step 1: Locate the pronoun in the sentence. 🔍

Step 2: Ask, “Who or what could this pronoun refer to?” ❓

Step 3: Check the nearest nouns that make sense. 🧠

Step 4: Make a list of all possible antecedents. 📋

Examples with Multiple Possible Antecedents

1. Emma gave Mia her book. 📚

• “her” could refer to:
• Emma ✅
• Mia ✅

2. The dog barked at the cat because it was scared. 🐶🐱

• “it” could refer to:
• the dog ✅
• the cat ✅

3. Jack told Ben that he would help him. 🤝

• “he” could refer to:
• Jack ✅
• Ben ✅

Tips to Avoid Confusion 🌈

• Look at verbs and context: Who is doing the action? ✍️
• Check for plural vs singular: Pronouns must match number. 🔢
• If unclear, rephrase the sentence to make it clear. ✨

Example:

• Original: Liam told Alex that he would win.
• Clear: Liam said, “I will win,” to Alex. ✅

Practice Makes Perfect! 💪

• Highlight all pronouns in a paragraph. ✏️
• Circle all nouns that could be the antecedents. 🔵
• Discuss why each noun might or might not be the antecedent. 💬

✅ Remember:

A pronoun can sometimes have more than one possible antecedent, so always look at the context carefully. 🧐

Let’s practice!🖊️