Pronoun Reference

Question

More than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now as it was in 1990.Can IT refer back to Energy or subject (More than ten times as much energy)?

Avangi · Accepted Answer

In my opinion, it cannot.

(. . . . as was generated in 1990.)

You can't divorce the simple subject from its modifiers.

More than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now as it was in 1990. .

"It's bigger now than it was." is okay.

"It's ten times as big as it was." is okay.

(The simple subject "it" has no modifiers.)

Edit. I'm not even sure I know what the simple subject is in your sentence.

If I say, "two hundred gallons of water flooded the cellar," the simple subject is "gallons," not "water."

In 1990, very little energy was generated from wind power.

Now more than ten times as much is generated, and it is much cheaper.

In this case, "it" refers to "energy."

If you use "amount" for your subject, you can make the ". . . . as . . . . as . . . " structure work with "it."

The amount of energy generated through wind power now is more than ten times as much as it was in 1990.

This doesn't answer your question, but you don't really need the"it" at all.

More than ten times as much energy is generated through wind power now as in 1990.

OR as there was [generated] in 1990.

Holyduke · Answer

it refers to the enegry generated through wind. (the energy generated through wind in 1990)

Pokh · Answer

AvangiIn my opinion, it cannot.
You can't divorce the simple subject from its modifiers.

In 1990, very little energy was generated from wind power.
Now more than ten times as much is generated, and it is much cheaper.
In this case, "it" refers to "energy."

If we cant ignore modifier how can "it" refer to "energy."

I think it should refer to "very little energy"

Avangi · Answer

pokhIf we cant ignore modifier how can "it" refer to "energy."

Excellent point.
Last night I was struggling to explain what was wrong with your original sentence. There seemed to be a confusion between the single-"as" structure and the double-"as" structure.

The problem was how to get all the necessary information at the beginning of the sentence to be duplicated at the end of the sentence. The "it" alone would not do it.

Truth be told, identifying the exact antecedent of "it" in a sentence can be an elusive task for an English learner.

It can require a mixture of grammar, syntax, common sense, and experience.

I realized when I came to the end of my post that the earlier statement about the antecedent was misleading, but I was too tired to rewrite that section.

In 1990, very little energy was generated from wind power.
Now more than ten times as much is generated, and it is much cheaper.

If "it" means "very little energy" in this sentence, then the whole idea is completely illogical.

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