0
Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Pronouns
I had a discussion with a friend, who said that the sentence, "the person grabbed the person's book," was incorrect, and the sentence, "the person grabbed his/her books," was correct.
Her reasoning was not that "the person grabbed his books" was more concise and thus more desirable; rather, she argued that "person's" was too ambiguous and that using the personal pronouns such as "him" or "her" implied a necessary reference to the subject, "person." She claimed that "person's" could refer to any person, but not necessarily the subject of the sentence. She says that "the person grabbed the person's books" could be saying that "Jon grabbed Kyle's books" rather than "Jon grabbed Jon's books."
I, however, contested this view, stating that "person's" necessarily refers to the subject, "the person," because "the person's books" functions as the direct object; thus there is no pronoun ambiguity. Furthermore, I stated that, according to her logic, "the person grabbed his/her books" is no less ambiguous because "his" or "her" in no way imply a more salient reference to the subject of the sentence than using "person's." In sum, I find that sentence structure and a word's function are what disambiguate pronoun confusion.
Who is right? She has been educated in linguistics, so I ceded my case. However, I am not satisfied.
I hope this is clear.
-Please help my confusion!
Her reasoning was not that "the person grabbed his books" was more concise and thus more desirable; rather, she argued that "person's" was too ambiguous and that using the personal pronouns such as "him" or "her" implied a necessary reference to the subject, "person." She claimed that "person's" could refer to any person, but not necessarily the subject of the sentence. She says that "the person grabbed the person's books" could be saying that "Jon grabbed Kyle's books" rather than "Jon grabbed Jon's books."
I, however, contested this view, stating that "person's" necessarily refers to the subject, "the person," because "the person's books" functions as the direct object; thus there is no pronoun ambiguity. Furthermore, I stated that, according to her logic, "the person grabbed his/her books" is no less ambiguous because "his" or "her" in no way imply a more salient reference to the subject of the sentence than using "person's." In sum, I find that sentence structure and a word's function are what disambiguate pronoun confusion.
Who is right? She has been educated in linguistics, so I ceded my case. However, I am not satisfied.
I hope this is clear.
-Please help my confusion!
Top answer
I can't find anything that says you have to use a pronoun, but my grammar books stress the elimination of redundancy. I find the sentence ambiguous without the pronoun, simply because nothing I read uses the same noun (or name) twice in one sentence. " I read it to mean that there are two Jons.
- I can't find anything that says you have to use a pronoun, but my grammar books stress the elimination of redundancy.
- I find the sentence ambiguous without the pronoun, simply because nothing I read uses the same noun (or name) twice in one sentence.
- " I read it to mean that there are two Jons.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
I can't find anything that says you have to use a pronoun, but my grammar books stress the elimination of redundancy.
I find the sentence ambiguous without the pronoun, simply because nothing I read uses the same noun (or name) twice in one sentence.
If you say "Jon grabbed Jon's books." I read it to mean that there are two Jons.
I find the sentence ambiguous without the pronoun, simply because nothing I read uses the same noun (or name) twice in one sentence.
If you say "Jon grabbed Jon's books." I read it to mean that there are two Jons.
0
Related Questions