A pronoun is a shortcut that points back to something already named. To follow a link, find the noun or idea the pronoun stands for, and check that the sentence still makes sense when you swap it in.
This lesson is part of gapped text and information transfer. It also helps with editing pronouns and reference chains in your own writing.
How do you trace a pronoun back to its noun?
Use three steps every time. They take about ten seconds once you have practised.
- Circle the pronoun, such as it, they, this, these, he, she or which.
- Look back one sentence, then two, for a noun or idea that matches in number and meaning.
- Replace the pronoun with that noun and read the sentence aloud.
If the swapped sentence sounds strange, try the next candidate. The test is meaning, not distance.
Worked example: two nouns compete
Read this original passage.
“The committee asked the canteen operators to lower their prices. They said the cost of cooking oil had risen, so a cut was impossible. This left the students with few choices.”
Who is “They”? Two groups appear in sentence one: the committee and the canteen operators. Swap each in.
“The committee said the cost of cooking oil had risen” does not fit, because the committee was asking for a cut, not explaining costs. “The canteen operators said the cost of cooking oil had risen” fits, because operators set prices.
Now “This”. It does not point to one noun. It points to the whole situation: the operators refusing to cut prices. So “This left the students with few choices” means the refusal left students with few choices.
The mistake: choosing the nearest noun
A common slip is to match a pronoun to the closest noun without testing it. In the passage above, “prices” and “cooking oil” sit close to later pronouns, which makes them tempting.
| Habit | What the student does | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Nearest-noun guess | Links “They” to “prices” | “Prices said” makes no sense |
| Meaning test | Swaps in each candidate | “Operators said” fits |
The fix is to swap the noun in every time, including when you feel sure.
Using links to choose a gap sentence
In a gapped text, the sentences on both sides of the gap hold the clues. Look at the sentence after the gap first. If it starts with a pronoun or a phrase like “That problem”, the missing sentence must contain the thing being pointed to.
For example: “[GAP] These were replaced by recycled cardboard boxes by the end of term.”
The missing sentence must contain a plural noun that “These” can point to. “The school had used plastic food containers for years” works: “These” means the containers. “The school held a recycling week” does not, because it has no plural noun to point to.
Check yourself
What does “it” refer to in the second sentence, and which words prove it? “Rani placed the speaker on the shelf beside her laptop. It was small enough to fit in her school bag, yet it could fill the whole room with sound.”
Answer
“It” refers to the speaker. Both are objects on the shelf, so position does not decide. The clue is “fill the whole room with sound”, because only a speaker does that. Swapping in “laptop” gives “the laptop could fill the room with sound”, which does not fit.
Let the description after the pronoun choose the noun.
What to study next
Links work together with topic, so go on to recognising topic continuity across gaps. Track pronoun slips in a mistake log to see which ones repeat.
For a teacher to look at your own reading habits, see online one-to-one English tuition.