Vague Pronouns

In the sentence, "After Ben talked to Sam, he felt much better," which word is a vague pronoun?

• Ben

• Sam

• he

• better

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'he' is vague because it's unclear if it refers to Ben or Sam. A clear sentence must specify who felt better.

Select the pronoun that makes this sentence unclear: "The teacher gave the student her folder."

• The teacher

• the student

• her

• folder

Answer explanation

'Her' is a vague pronoun because it could refer to the teacher's folder or the student's folder. The sentence needs to be more specific to be clear.

True or False: A pronoun is considered 'vague' when it is not obvious which noun it is replacing.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This is the definition of a vague pronoun. For a pronoun to be clear, its antecedent (the noun it refers to) must be easily identified.

Complete the sentence to make the meaning clear: When my dog saw the mailman, ________ started barking.

• he

• it

• the dog

• someone

Answer explanation

Using 'the dog' clarifies exactly who started barking. The pronoun 'he' would be vague, as it could refer to either the dog or the mailman.

Which sentence contains a vague pronoun reference?

• Before the game, Dad told my brother he needed to focus.

• Before the game, Dad told my brother to focus.

• Dad said, 'You need to focus before the game,' to my brother.

• My brother needed to focus before the game, according to Dad.

Answer explanation

This sentence is vague because the pronoun 'he' could refer to Dad or to my brother. The other sentences are structured to avoid this confusion.

Complete the sentence to fix the vague pronoun 'this': I stayed up late studying and got a good grade. This _________ made me very proud.

• achievement

• idea

• thing

• it

Answer explanation

Using 'This achievement' clarifies that the outcome (getting a good grade) made you proud. Using 'This' by itself is vague as it refers to a whole idea.

True or False: In the sentence 'On that TV show, they are always solving mysteries,' the pronoun 'they' is vague.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'they' is a vague generic pronoun because it refers to an unspecified group of people (the characters) without a clear antecedent.

Complete the sentence to make the pronoun reference clear: Maya and her sister went shopping, and then _________ went home.

• she

• they

• her

• one

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'they' clearly refers to the plural antecedent 'Maya and her sister'. Using 'she' would be vague because it would be unclear which person went home.

In the sentence 'Take the pizza out of the box and throw it away,' why is the pronoun 'it' considered vague?

• It is a singular pronoun.

• It has two possible antecedents: 'pizza' and 'box'.

• The sentence should use the word 'that' instead.

• The word 'it' is always vague.

Answer explanation

The pronoun 'it' is vague because the listener cannot tell if 'it' refers to the pizza or the box, as both are nouns that could be thrown away.

True or False: In the sentence 'He was late for the bus, which was a problem,' the pronoun 'which' is vague because it refers to the entire idea before it, not just a single noun.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

This is a broad reference, where 'which' refers to the whole clause 'He was late for the bus'. This can make the meaning less precise than it should be.