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Mastering Pronoun Reference Skills

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7 views3 pages

Mastering Pronoun Reference Skills

Uploaded by

William Nascimento
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Reading – Referents (pronoun/adjective reference functions)

Another skill we should pay attention to, not only on the Reading section, but also on the
Writing and Speaking sections is the Referents, or Pronoun/adjective reference functions.

This skill basically requires that you make connections between ideas using adjectives or
pronouns.

If you’ve taken the Toefl before, or any other English test, you might have seen questions of
this type, in which you’re supposed to look at one pronoun or adjective highlighted on the
text, and connect it to a previously mentioned idea, mostly often in the same paragraph where
the highlighted word is. The directions then ask you to relate that pronoun/adjective to the
correct idea, which is one of the four alternatives that follow.

Your job here is to identify what idea that is, and correctly link it to the referent word
highlighted.

You will be facing 1 or 2 questions of this type on your reading section. However, there are
several pronouns or adjectives that could be used and it is extremely important that you
understand each and every one of them, and what to do when they show up.

We are going to take a better look at them now.

To identify this kind of question, when you read the directions, you will see something like:

“The word “______” in paragraph X refers to”

There is a bunch of words (Pronouns and Adjectives) that could be in that space, and we’re
going to see all of them now.

*Sometimes the demonstrative pronouns or the quantifiers are followed by a noun that is
included in the phrase. For instance: This fact or Many types.

The referent words such as the ones in the examples previously mentioned will be almost
always right after the idea that they refer to. If you can’t find the link between the reference
and the referent word, look around the paragraph where it is. It shouldn’t be hard to find.

Let’s take a look at some examples from an extract of the Toefl Reading Section.
In this example you are going to work with a third-person subject pronoun in the plural – They.

Observing the context around the Highlighted Pronoun, you can see that “Thunderstorms” is
the main element, the subject of the sentence. “Tornadoes” and “Conditions” are also in the
sentence, but logically, the pronoun “they” refer to Thunderstorms because it is followed by a
verb that would perform the action of the thunderstorms: (increase the risk of a tornado).

All the alternatives are in the plural, and when that happens, your logic skills should work.
Knowing that “they” is plural, you could have eliminated any singular alternative if you had
seen any.

Let’s illustrate with another example here?

Here, the reference you’re going to work with is a relative pronoun – that.

As it is followed by a verb (spins), you can tell that it is conjugated in the third person singular.

Now you just identify on the sentence what spins. The wall of clouds.

With reference functions, you don’t even need to read the whole paragraph. Start with only
the sentence that the highlighted word is and if you can’t find the answer there, you read the
surrounding sentences. Doing it on this sequence will save you plenty of time.
So, the guideline for you to succeed with referent questions follows like this:

- Identify what kind of reference word you’re working with and list it. (Is It a third
person pronoun, a relative pronoun, a quantifier? Is it in the singular or plural?);
- Eliminate the alternatives that do not match your classification of the word, especially
in number. For instance: if the word is “those” and you have an alternative with the
option “the fact”, “those” is plural and “the fact” is singular, therefore, it would be
incorrect.
- Analyze the context around the highlighted word and use your logical skills to
determine the best option.
- Most importantly, Substitute the highlighted word with the alternative you’ve chosen
to make sure the statement continues to make sense. If so, the answer is likely to be
correct.

Don’t forget to download all of the available exercises on this and the other strategies to
practice, and see the techniques working, as you finish your theorical studies.

Keep up the good work and see you in our next class.

Common questions

Powered by AI

Reference words aid in connecting ideas by serving as links between new information and previously mentioned concepts, thus maintaining the text's continuity and coherence. In academic tests, they require the test-taker to track these connections to understand the flow and logic of information, a crucial skill for answering comprehension and referent questions accurately .

Reading entire paragraphs is unnecessary because referent questions can typically be answered by focusing on the sentence with the highlighted word and nearby sentences for context. This focused approach saves time and enhances efficiency by minimizing unnecessary text processing and honing in on relevant information .

Logical skills are crucial in handling pronoun reference questions because they allow the test-taker to follow the sequence of actions or attributes associated with nouns. For example, in identifying that 'they' refers to 'thunderstorms' due to the action described in the context, logical deduction helps determine the correct referent, reinforcing the understanding of sentence structure and meaning .

The strategies simplify the process by outlining a clear method for identifying reference words and categorizing them based on their type and number. Test-takers are advised to eliminate alternatives that don't match their classification of the word, thus narrowing down the choices. Analyzing context and substituting words with chosen alternatives further confirm correctness, saving time and reducing complexity in deriving answers .

Understanding the use of referents enhances comprehension by allowing test-takers to make connections between ideas using pronouns or adjectives, which is crucial for answering related questions accurately. By identifying pronouns like 'they' or relative pronouns like 'that,' and determining their antecedents through context, students can eliminate incorrect options and choose the correct one, as these pronouns often follow the ideas they refer to within the same or neighboring sentences .

Eliminating unmatched alternatives is important because it streamlines the selection process by removing choices that do not logically or grammatically fit with the reference word's type or number. This reduction simplifies decision-making and increases the likelihood of selecting the correct answer by focusing attention on valid options .

Paying attention to whether a referent pronoun is singular or plural is important because it helps eliminate incorrect answer choices that don't match the number of the pronoun. For example, if the pronoun is 'those,' a singular option like 'the fact' can be immediately discounted, ensuring more accurate and faster decision-making .

Substituting a pronoun with an alternative serves as a verification step that ensures the chosen word fits logically and grammatically within the sentence. It helps confirm that the reference agrees with the rest of the context, thus strengthening the confidence in the answer's accuracy .

The process involves first identifying the reference word's type (e.g., pronoun or quantifier) and its singular or plural nature. Students then scan the sentence containing the reference for quick context clues. If unclear, they expand their reading to surrounding sentences to grasp associated actions or attributes. Finally, they substitute potential alternatives to verify agreement and coherence within the passage .

Without a solid understanding of pronoun use, test-takers may struggle to correctly link pronouns to their antecedents, leading to incorrect answers. They might overlook logical deductions necessary for identifying singular/plural forms or fail to eliminate options based on incorrect number agreements, ultimately confusing meaning and decreasing test accuracy .

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