Proficiency Exam Corner
Share Proficiency Exam Corner Share Proficiency Exam Corner Share More Posts Read More Using… Read More Using Topic Sentences Share In the Cambridge Advanced
Reading – Words that refer to other words
Menu
- English Too
- November 27, 2022
- 2:03 pm
Share
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
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.
More Posts
Would Rather & Prefer Grammar
Share Rather & Prefer In this post we will look at the different grammar of would rather and prefer and the way we use
Verb & Adverb Suffixes
Share Verb & Adverb Suffix Types We use a prefix at the beginning of the word to change the meaning and a suffix at
Using Topic Sentences
Share In the Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency writing exams, the quality of answers depends on very good organisation of ideas and topics. In this
Use of English Part 2 – Finding the missing words
Share What is it? The Use of English Part 2 is where you need to put a single word into each gap. In this post we’ll
Unreal Past
Share Unreal Past An unreal past structure is one that considers impossible situations. While conditional forms are the most obvious, there are also a
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.
This example is more complex and we will look at it in detail as there are a number of references in it.
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.
[WpProQuiz 13]