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Seagull Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

What does the pronoun "it" represent

Hello everyone. I have a question.

I want to maintain here that it is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn't get confined, permanently blocked, as [it] has so many times before in various periods in the history of man.

In the above sentence, what does the pronoun "it" in the bracket represent? "The continuous motion"? "Some direction"? Or, maybe, "the history of man"?


  

Top answer

It refers to the same thing as "that", which grammatically is ambiguous between "motion" and "direction", but presumably is intended to refer to "motion", since motion can be blocked whilst "direction" hardly can.

  • It refers to the same thing as "that", which grammatically is ambiguous between "motion" and "direction", but presumably is intended to refer to "motion", since motion can be blocked whilst "direction" hardly can.
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6 Answers
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It refers to the same thing as "that", which grammatically is ambiguous between "motion" and "direction", but presumably is intended to refer to "motion", since motion can be blocked whilst "direction" hardly can.

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I understand.

Thank you very much indeed, GPY.

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Sorry, I meant to say that a direction cannot be confined, not that it can't be blocked.

However, unfortunately I am not feeling so confident now that "that" and "it" were not meant to refer to "direction" after all. Let's see if someone else can come in with an opinion.

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seagullwhat does the pronoun "it" in the bracket represent?

'motion' I'd say.

CJ

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Understood.

Thank you so much, CalifJim.

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Many thanks for your additional comment, GPY.

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