Writing Skills - How to Avoid Ambiguous Pronoun Use in Writing

One of the most common errors writers make is using ambiguous pronoun references. This can be confusing for readers and make your writing appear sloppy.

To avoid this, you need to be aware of what pronouns are and how to use them correctly.

Let's look at what ambiguous pronoun references are and how to avoid them.

What Are Pronouns?

Pronouns are words used in place of a noun or a group of nouns. They can refer to people, places, things, or ideas.

There are different types of pronouns, including personal pronouns, reflexive pronouns, relative pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns.

For your writing to be clear and free of ambiguity, you must use the correct type of pronoun in each situation.

Let's look at some examples.

Personal Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Example of ambiguous personal pronoun use:

After the meeting, John told his boss how it went and he was not happy about it.

In this sentence, "he" could refer to either John or his boss. To avoid confusion, it would be better to write:

After the meeting, John told his boss that he was unhappy with how the meeting went.

Reflexive Pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself

Examples of ambiguous reflexive pronoun use:

The president will speak at the meeting himself.

Solution:

The president will speak at the meeting.

We completed the project ourselves.

Solution:

We completed the project.

The company is doing well for itself.

Solution:

The company is doing well.

Do this report and have it on my desk by noon tomorrow, or you'll be looking for a new job yourself.

Solution:

Do this report and have it on my desk by noon tomorrow, or you'll be looking for a new job.

When in doubt, it is usually best to avoid using reflexive pronouns in business writing.

Relative Pronouns: that, which, who, whom

When to use "that" and "which":

Use "that" when referring to a specific noun.

Example:

I saw the report that predicted poor sales performance next year.

Use "which" when referring to a nonspecific noun or when introducing a clause.

Example:

The report, which was published in 2016, is about market research in China.

When to use "who" and "whom":

Use "who" when the pronoun is the subject of a verb.

Use "whom" when the pronoun is the object of a verb.

Examples:

Who is the author of the report?

The report was written by whom?

Demonstrative Pronouns: this, these, that, those

Note: when you start a sentence with "this" make sure it is clear what "this" refers to.

A confusing sentence beginning with "this":

Recent data analysis suggests the previous results may not be accurate. This has caused some consternation among the research team.

A less confusing sentence:

Recent data analysis suggests the previous results may not be accurate. This finding has caused some consternation among the research team.

"This" is now clearly referring to "the finding that recent data analysis suggests the previous results may not be accurate.

How to Avoid Ambiguous Pronoun References

Now that we know what pronouns are and the different types of pronouns available, let's look at how we can avoid using ambiguous pronoun references in our writing.

First, we need to make sure that when we use a pronoun, it is clear who or what we are referring to.

To do this, we need to ensure that there is only one possible antecedent for each pronoun used.

An antecedent is the noun or group of nouns that a pronoun refers to.

Doing so eliminates ambiguity and makes our meaning crystal clear.

As you can see, avoiding ambiguous pronoun references in your writing is simply a matter of ensuring that there is only one possible antecedent for each pronoun used.

When in doubt, err on the side of using more specific language rather than less specific language. With some practice, you'll be avoiding ambiguous pronoun references like a pro!