IXL | Identify all of the possible antecedents

The pronoun in bold is not vague. Select its one clear antecedent.

Patrick Brown, a former Stanford University biochemistry professor, has created burger patties that use plant tissue to mimic animal tissue. According to the Wall Street Journal, they smell like beef but taste more like turkey.

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Learn with an example

question

The pronoun in bold is vague. Select all of its possible antecedents.

Becky and Amy walked with Megan to the library, which is down the street from her house.

key idea

When writing, make sure to avoid vague pronoun references. A vague pronoun reference occurs when a pronoun could refer to more than one possible antecedent.

When Lisa and Kim finally landed, she breathed a sigh of relief.

The pronoun she could refer to either Lisa or Kim, so the meaning of the sentence is unclear.

Vague pronoun references can be corrected in one of two ways:

1. Replace the pronoun with its correct antecedent:

When Lisa and Kim finally landed, Lisa breathed a sigh of relief.

2. Rewrite the sentence:

Lisa breathed a sigh of relief when she and Kim finally landed.

solution

Look at the text.

Becky and Amy walked with Megan to the library, which is down the street from her house.

The text contains a vague pronoun reference. The pronoun her could refer to Becky, Amy, or Megan.

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Z.7Identify vague pronoun references

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