Yes, thanks for pointing that out, I’ll correct it!

On the subject of pronouns and their antecedents, if I were to say “When John comes inside, the boy will dry off with his towel in his bathroom” – would it be grammatical to assume that “the boy” refers to “John”?

While it sounds odd, I would say that indeed it is possible for “the boy” to refer to “john”, since other nouns can refer to Jong, and not just personal pronouns like “he/him/his”, am I right?

Thanks!

Regards,
Shizuka

Hi Shizuka,

I must admit they’re not terms I’ve often used myself for grammar (more so for antecedent in its general use, to mean “something that comes before”), but yes your understanding is correct that a noun or noun phrase described as an antecedent simply means it comes before a pronoun that later references it. And yes, an anaphoric pronoun is one that references an antecedent – so the two go together.

Phil

I’ve heard the term antecedent and anaphor thrown around at times. To seek your advice, antecedent is simply the term for nouns (or noun phrases) which act as the source of reference for pronouns that come latter in the sentence, correct?

While anaphor is just another fancy name for pronouns that refer back to the antecedents, correct?

Thanks!

Regards,
Shizuka

Hi Shizuka,
Yes that is correct; they are grammatically independent ideas.

English Grammar Tenses work with all points of view (i.e. first, second or third person POV)/personal pronouns, and the uses of the tenses do not change with respect to the POV/personal pronouns used. This is true, isn’t it?

Regards,
Shizuka

Hi Shizuka,
No problem – the new article is up here now!
Phil

Dear Phil,

Thanks! Looking forward to your article. Would appreciate it if you could post the link to your article here for easy referencing 🙂

Regards,
Shizuka