Pronoun Reference in a Letter to a Pen Pal
Kago is writing a letter to a pen pal in Kenya. He writes: "My sister and I visited our grandmother in Maun. She told us stories about the river. My sister said she wanted to swim, but it was too cold. We bought a map and studied it before the trip." His teacher, Mr. Sekgoma, asks the class to check whether each pronoun clearly points to one person or thing. Thabo says "she" in the second sentence could mean the sister or the grandmother. Kago insists the meaning is obvious. Mr. Sekgoma wants pupils to use grammar clues, such as which noun comes just before the pronoun and which action makes sense, rather than simply saying "it sounds right."
1. Explain whether the pronoun "she" in "She told us stories about the river" is clear or ambiguous, and how a reader can decide.
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The pronoun "she" is potentially ambiguous because two females appear in the previous sentence: "My sister" and "our grandmother." A reader can use two clues. First, the nearest preceding noun that fits is "grandmother," which is the more likely referent. Second, the action "told us stories about the river" fits an older relative who knows local history, which supports grandmother. However, the sentence does not force this reading, so a careful writer would replace "she" with "our grandmother" to remove doubt. The reasoning shows that pronoun reference depends on proximity and on which action makes sense, not on the writer's private intention.
2. Check the pronouns "she" in "My sister said she wanted to swim" and "it" in "studied it before the trip." Which is clear, and which needs repair?
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In "My sister said she wanted to swim," the pronoun "she" is clear enough because the only female named in that sentence is "My sister," and the reporting verb "said" makes the sister the speaker. It refers to the sister. In "We bought a map and studied it before the trip," the pronoun "it" is also clear: the only singular object that can be studied is "a map," so "it" refers to the map. Both are acceptable. The earlier "she" in the grandmother sentence remains the weaker one because two possible females are available. The task tests whether pupils can judge each pronoun separately instead of treating all pronouns in a paragraph as equally clear.