Class 9. Reference words

Prévia do material em texto

Focus on reference words
You may understand all of the words in a sentence and still not understand what the writer wants to say. This might be because you did not pay attention to words which connect the ideas. We will call these reference words because they refer us to other parts of the text.
Instead of repeating the same noun over and over again, writers use pronouns to replace it. The pronoun must agree in number (singular / plural) with the noun it replaces and, if it is a personal pronoun, also in gender (masculine / feminine). Some of the most common pronouns used are: it, they, him, her, one, ones, another, others. Look at the example below.
Modern technology has dramatically changed the way we view the world. With air travel, satellite communication and computers, it seems a much smaller place these days.
What does ‘it’ refer to? In this context, the pronoun ‘it’ refers back to ‘the world’ in the previous sentence, that is, ‘the world’ is the referent for ‘it.’
Look at another example. The words in parentheses are the referents for the words in italics.
I lose so many things that I’m sure that they (things) just get up and walk away. I am jealous of people who are so orderly that they (orderly people) never lose anything.
Notice here that the plural pronoun ‘they’ replaces a plural noun (things, people). If it were replacing a woman, the pronoun used would be ‘she.’
Now continue with the rest of the paragraph.
Pens and pencils are never there when I need them (_______________). I try to keep a pen near the telephone so that I will use it when the phone rings. But it is never there when I need it(_______________). The situation was getting so bad that I decided to do something about it. I bought a large cupboard with a number of shelves. I then put ten boxes on them (_______________). I put a label on each box: one (_______________) I labeled “Pens and Pencils,” another (_______________) I labeled “Tools,” another “Needles and Pins.” I also bought an address book and put it in the corner of the cupboard. Before this, I always lost all the addresses and phone numbers I needed. Now I felt very proud of myself. But things did not change. Pens began to disappear, and one day I found my hammer under the bed. There was only one solution. I locked the cupboard and put the key on top of it (_______________). The cupboard was always locked and I was the only one who knew where the key was. Then I lost it (_______________) . . .