What are they?

In English we often use a substitute or reference word so that we don’t repeat the original word. Some of the commonest of these words are pronouns
In this post we’ll look at how these reference words are used to organise a text.
How we use reference words
As we said above we use reference words like this so we don’t repeat the same words. In addition we also use them to refer to different parts of a text. We often we refer back to an earlier part of a text but we can also refer forward in the text.
Here are some of the commonest types of reference words.
- it, they, them, his
- this, that, those
- which, whose, where
- some, others, another
- Personal pronouns
- Demonstratives
- Relative pronouns
- Determiners
Let’s see how they are used.
- A Your parents called earlier.
B Thanks, I must give them a call later. - Professor Dean, who has been lecturing here for 26 years, is retiring next year.
- An awful lot of people love football, but some find it very boring.
- A Have you decide which coat to buy?
B Yes, I think I like this.
Refer to other parts of a text
In the previous examples we saw how we use them in sentences or short conversations. Now we’ll look at some longer examples, which are part of a text.
Every organization, as soon as it gets to any size (perhaps 1,000 people), begins to feel a need to organise its management of workers.
Perhaps individuals have complained that they don’t know where they stand or what their future is; perhaps the unions have requested standardized benefits and procedures.
The first extract uses different forms of the word it to refer to organisation.
In the second extract different forms of they refer to individuals.
In both cases the reference words refer back to an individual word.
Reference words and complex texts
Finally we’ll take a look at example of a longer piece of text and how we use references in it.
The manager of the furniture store told us they will receive the our new bed by August.
“It‘ll be down to the manufacturing of the company and delivery schedules but we would be confident of that“, he said.
Reference word
- they
- our
- that
- he
Refers To
- furniture store
- us
- they will receive our new bed by August
- The manager
NOTE:
We have not included it here as it is used here as a subject to introduce new information and it is not a reference word in this text.
Reading - Referring to other words
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For each of the following sentences decide what word(s) the highlighted word refers to and choose the best answer.
EXAMPLE
Perhaps individuals in companies have complained that they don’t know where they stand or what their future is; perhaps the unions have requested standardized benefits for them.
- The companies
- The workers
- The unions
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Question 1 of 6
1. Question
My aunt arrived two days before the party convertible sports car with the top down. She pulled off her silk headscarf, shaking out her long hair, and kissed my mother saying she was so excited to see her.
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Question 2 of 6
2. Question
Older people questioned for the study were more likely to say they valued their time with younger people in their families. But they too seem to enjoy the experiences even if not in the same numbers.
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Question 3 of 6
3. Question
New Zealand can offer good homestay accommodation, a clean and beautiful environment and a reasonable cost of tuition. These factors attract an ever-increasing number of overseas students, accounting for millions of dollars in revenue for New Zealand.
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Question 4 of 6
4. Question
Climbers soon learnt that it was far safer for two or more people to be together in such places, so they used long sticks as a sort of hand-rail, holding on to each end. Of course, this was a very clumsy way of doing things.
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Question 5 of 6
5. Question
Human memory systems are remarkably efficient, but it is of course extremely imperfect. That being so, it makes sense to take full advantage of memory aids to minimize the disruption caused by such forgetfulness.
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Question 6 of 6
6. Question
An apartment building’s most important asset in 19th century New York was that it allowed the rich to live better than ever. This led to a lot of construction and of course the skyline we now recognise.
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