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JungKim Posted 9 years ago
Grammar
antecedent of "they"
In an interview of actress Tilda Swinton, who played the role of the Ancient One in Doctor Strange, she talks about Dr. Strange as follows:
Here what does "they" refer to? Operations or hands?
He has a car crash, loses the use of his hands, and spends all of his money on operations to have his hands reconstructed and they don't work.
Top answer
JungKim Operations or hands? You can take it either way. If the operations don't work, the hands don't work, so the result is the same either way.
- JungKim Operations or hands?
- You can take it either way.
- If the operations don't work, the hands don't work, so the result is the same either way.
- However, 'the operation didn't work' is more idiomatic, at least to my ear, than 'his hands don't work', so I'm inclined to believe that the original intention of the speaker was that 'operations' should be the antecedent of 'they'.
- CJ
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2 Answers
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JungKimOperations or hands?You can take it either way. If the operations don't work, the hands don't work, so the result is the same either way.
However, 'the operation didn't work' is more idiomatic, at least to my ear, than 'his hands don't work', so I'm inclined to believe that the original intention of the speaker was that 'operations' should be
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JungKimHere what does "they" refer to? Operations or hands?In my opinion, it's ambiguous.
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