Vague Pronouns

In which sentence is the pronoun 'she' unclear because it could refer to more than one person?

• Maria told her mom that she passed the test.

• After Maria passed the test, she called her mom.

• Maria was happy.

• The teacher gave Maria a high-five.

Answer explanation

This is correct because 'she' could refer to either Maria or her mom. The other sentences have clear subjects and pronoun references.

True or False: In the sentence, 'At the library, they say you have to be quiet,' the pronoun 'they' refers to a clear and specific group of people.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'they' is vague because it doesn't refer to a specific group; it could mean librarians, the rules, or people in general.

Select the sentence that contains a vague pronoun with a missing antecedent.

• The weather forecast was wrong about the rain.

• On the news, it said a storm is coming.

• My dad heard a weather report on the radio.

• A meteorologist predicted the storm.

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'it' is vague because it does not have a clear antecedent. We don't know what 'it' is that said a storm is coming (e.g., the anchor, a reporter, a graphic).

Read this sentence: 'Leo took the pizza out of the box and put it on the table.' Why is the pronoun 'it' clear in this sentence?

• It could refer to the box or the pizza.

• It clearly refers to the pizza, which is what would logically be put on the table.

• It is a vague pronoun with no antecedent.

• It refers to Leo.

Answer explanation

Context makes the pronoun 'it' clear. While grammatically it could be ambiguous, logically one puts the pizza on the table, not the empty box.

Which sentence is the clearest revision of 'When Kayla sits with her sister, she always plays on her phone'?

• She always plays on her phone when Kayla sits with her sister.

• When sitting with her sister, Kayla always plays on her phone.

• Kayla's sister plays on her phone when they sit together.

• Both B and C are clear revisions.

Answer explanation

The original sentence is vague because 'she' could be Kayla or her sister. Both options B and C clarify who is playing on the phone by replacing the vague pronoun with a specific noun.

Complete the sentence to clarify that David was the one who was late: 'Mark couldn't give David the homework because _____ was late for class.'

• he

• Mark

• David

• someone

Answer explanation

Using the specific noun 'David' removes all ambiguity. The pronoun 'he' would be vague because it could refer to either Mark or David.

True or False: The pronoun 'this' is used clearly in the following sentences: 'I stayed up late to finish my project. This made me tired the next day.'

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'This' is vague because it refers to the entire idea of staying up late, not a single specific noun. A clearer sentence would be 'Staying up late made me tired.'

In the sentence, 'The painting was next to the window, which was beautiful,' what is the most likely reason the pronoun 'which' is vague?

• It's too far from the word 'painting'.

• It's placed right after 'window,' making it seem like the window is beautiful.

• The word 'which' is always vague.

• There is no noun for 'which' to refer to.

Answer explanation

A pronoun should be close to its antecedent. Because 'which' is next to 'window,' it creates confusion about whether the painting or the window is beautiful.

Complete the sentence to fix the vague demonstrative pronoun: 'The dog kept barking, and the cat was hiding. I did not like that.'

• I did not like that situation.

• I did not like it.

• I did not like that.

• I did not like those.

Answer explanation

The word 'that' was vague because it referred to a whole idea. Adding the noun 'situation' clarifies what was not liked.

Original sentence: 'Sam and his brother went to the store, and he bought a snack.' Which revision best clarifies that Sam's brother bought the snack?

• When they went to the store, he bought a snack.

• Sam and his brother went to the store, and a snack was bought by him.

• Sam went to the store with his brother, who bought a snack.

• Sam and his brother went to the store, where he bought a snack.

Answer explanation

Using the relative pronoun 'who' right after 'brother' directly links the action of buying the snack to the brother, removing all vagueness.