Antecedents of Pronouns & Dangling Constructions

Antecedents of Pronouns

Nouns (noun) which are represented by pronouns (pronoun) are known as antecedent terms. The noun can be a word, phrase, or clause. In general, in a sentence, antecedent lies before the pronoun. Consider the example of the following sentence, the bold letters are pronouns and the underlined ones are antecedents.

·         The car that I want is on sale.

·         The teacher asked the children where theywere going.

·         The government workers received theirpaychecks.

·         I threw the keys to him and he caughtthem.

·         Jane thought she saw the missing boy and reported him to the police.

·         The shift supervisor hates these accidentsbecause he thinks they can be easily avoided.

·         Does anyone have his or her book?

Pronouns must be equivalent to the antecedent. In other words, if the antecedent is singular then the pronoun must also be singular. If the antecedent is plural then the pronoun must also be plural. In sentences, sometimes pronoun acts as an antecedent represented by other pronouns.

Dangling Constructions

A dangling construction is a group of words that the writer intends to be a modifier for a noun or phrase but the noun or phrase is not actually in the sentence.  Instead, the modifier erroneously describes a noun or phrase that is in the sentence sometimes with humorous results.  Here are some examples.

• After eating, the waiter gave us the bill. (The sentence grammar says the waiter did the eating but that's not what the writer really means.)
• While running, my shoe lost its heel. (I couldn’t slow that shoe down!)
• To avoid extinction, researchers hope to breed in captivity.
• After taking a three-month bicycle trip through Montana, my dog was happy to see me.
• After reading the book, the movie is going to be great.
• Wrapped in wax paper, the picnickers couldn't see if the sandwiches were tuna or egg salad.
• Rolling down the hill, Larry saw an avalance of rocks approaching.
• After placing bets, the horses headed to the starting gate.

Similar to dangling modifiers are misplaced modifiers.

• I saw penguins on a trip to the zoo. (I hope the penguins enjoyed their visit!)
• Jake shot an elephant in his pajamas. (Jake never did explain how the elephant got into his PJ’s).
• Mike caught the fly ball running backwards.
• I found a lottery ticket walking home.