To whom does a possessive determiner refer?

Question

To whom does a possessive determiner refer?

For example:
Edward has a son, John, who passed away. His daughter, Amy, wants to attend college.

Does the possessive determiner, "his" refer to John (as the subject of the previous sentence) or Edward (as the direct object of the previous sentence)?

Thank you!

Khoff · Accepted Answer

AnonymousEdward has a son, John, who passed away. His daughter, Amy, wants to attend college.

As it's written, it's completely ambiguous. You have to re-write it if you want it to be clear. I would also change "has" to "had," since the son is dead.

Edward had a son, John, who passed away. He also has a daughter, Amy, who wants to attend college. (I think the parallel construction of the two sentences makes it clear that Amy is Edward's daughter.)

OR

Edward had a son, John, who passed away. John's daughter, Amy, wants to attend college.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

This is a good example of an ambiguous antecedent. From these two sentences, it is not possible to determine if Amy is Edward's or John's daughter.
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Ambiguous Antecedent

A pronoun's antecedent is the noun that the pronoun refers to. Sometimes there may be more than one word the pronoun could refer to.

Incorrect: The suitcase was on the plane, but now it's gone. (What is gone? The suitcase or the plane?)
Correct: The suitcase was on the plane, but now the suitcase is gone. OR The suitcase was on the plane, but now the plane is gone.
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In your case, the second sentence can be corrected:
Edward has a son, John, who passed away and whose daughter, Amy, wants to attend college.
Edward has a son, John, who passed away. John's daughter, Amy, wants to attend college.
Edward has a son, John, who passed away. His granddaughter, Amy, wants to attend college. ( This is not a perfect solution, but less ambiguous. You can logically deduce that Edward had a son John who had a daughter, Amy, who was also Edward's granddaughter.)

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousDoes the possessive determiner, "his" refer to John ... or Edward ... ?

Nobody knows! It's not possible to answer that question.

CJ

Khoff · Answer

A-Stars -- it's interesting that although you said the original was ambiguous, all of the variations you offer assumed that Amy was John's daughter.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

khoffA-Stars -- it's interesting that although you said the original was ambiguous, all of the variations you offer assumed that Amy was John's daughter.

Purely accidental - Edward was harder to type. I have a brother named John, too (three sons, no daughters.)

To whom does a possessive determiner refer?

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