What are Antecedents with Examples?

An antecedent is a literary device or a linguistic term. It is a word that a pronoun replaces or refers to. In simple words, an antecedent is a preceding word, clause or phrase to which a pronoun, noun or another word refers back to. For instance, Emily called to say she will come to work late. (Here, ‘Emily’ is the antecedent of the personal pronoun ‘she’). An antecedent is originated from English grammar. It is recognized as an expression, which gives its meaning to a proform, including pronoun, pro-verb and pro-adverb. Generally, an antecedent comes before the pronoun as ‘ante’ means before.

Antecedent plays a significant role as it makes a sentence clear and succinct to the readers. Sometimes, the use of they, their, he, she, it, them, etc. make the sentence complex and confusing for the readers. Hence, an antecedent helps a writer to convey the exact meaning in a clear and coherent manner.

Basic Rules

There are certain rules that you need to consider when dealing with antecedents and pronouns. Let us understand in detail.

•    Make sure that a pronoun and its antecedent must agree in number. If an antecedent is singular, then the pronoun that replaces it or refers to it should be also singular.

•    Similarly, a pronoun and its antecedent must also agree in gender. If an antecedent refers to a masculine gender, then the pronoun that replaces or refers to it must have the same gender. Likewise, if an antecedent has feminine gender, then the pronoun must have the same gender.

Examples of Antecedent

1. My neighbor who lives next door lost his car key. (Here, ‘neighbor’ is the antecedent of the relative pronoun ‘who’ and the possessive adjective ‘his’.)

2. Every student was required to show his or her admission ticket. (Here, ‘student’ is the antecedent of the pronoun ‘his or her’. In order to avoid any gender confusion, ‘his or her’ both pronouns are used in the sentence.)

3. My aunty likes chocolates. She requests everyone to give her chocolates on Christmas. (Here, ‘aunty is the antecedent of the pronoun ‘she’.)

4. Any student who wishes to participate in the debate competition should raise his or her hand. (Here, ‘student’ is the antecedent of the pronoun ‘his or her’.)

5. Most people are unable to read and write because they are uneducated. (Here, ‘people’ is the antecedent of the pronoun ‘they’.)