Why I Don’t Like Pronouns

This is why I try to avoid pronouns. Last panel. Whose nose???

Pronouns typically need a noun they refer to, called the antecedent. The topic of the conversation is some famous classmate, but the closest noun is “another kid.” So did the kid shove the hot dog up his own nose, or up the nose of the kid who ate the ketchup? Which one is the antecedent?

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Deciding on the antecedent can be tricky:

Don’t say “which one.” Say “which movie?”

Harrumpf!

The official rule is that you should write so the thing your subordinate clause refers to is a close as possible. Sometimes it’s tricky to do that.

So did the mice find out about mobile phones? That’s the closest noun.

How would you rewrite the sentence to make it less ambiguous?

I recommend avoiding pronouns because a pronoun’s need for an antecedent can lead to ambiguity when the closest noun isn’t the antecedent.

Ambiguity is bad, but it’s the basis for this punchline.

Get the point?

The problem is that pronouns need another word to give them meaning, and that word (the antecedent) can be hard to discern. Here’s an example. What does “it” refer to?

One of Tesla’s biggest critics is funding a Super Bowl ad against it

from The Washington Post

The rule is that pronouns should refer to the closest noun. The ad is against the Super Bowl???

If you have to think to figure out what a sentence means, the sentence is written poorly.