Which and antecedent

Question

Hi all,

What is the antecedent in the following sentence?

'His cigarettes smelled like frankincense, which reminded me of my time in college.'

AFAIK, 'which' can refer to a sentence, in this case 'His cigarettes smelled like frankincense'. But is it possible for 'which' to refer to 'frankincense' per se?

(I always try and hide this deficiency in my knowledge of English, but it is about time I go public about it ;-)

Jan

Avangi · Accepted Answer

This is a strange situation. Usually the student prefers a one-word antecedent, and resists being persuaded to go with the longer phrase.

I'd say in this case it has to be the whole clause, especially since there isno frankincense.

A fair test would be to ask yourself, what, exactly, reminded you of college.

Perhaps you mean the smell made you think of frankincense, and thinking of frankincense made you think of college; but antecedents have to do with what's in the sentence, not with what's in your head.

Ferdis · Answer

I agree; there isn't anything else in the sentence but the whole clause that can function as a proper antecedent. I do think it's poor writing. What the author probably means is that the smell of frankincense reminds him of college, not cigarettes that smell like frankincense. In my opinion, something like the following would be better:

His cigarettes filled the air with the smell of frankincense, which reminded me of college.

Anonymous · Answer

AvangiI'd say in this case it has to be the whole clause, especially since there is no frankincense.
A fair test would be to ask yourself, what, exactly, reminded you of college.

@Avangi, that makes sense, thank you! (It is not my writing, by the way).

@Ferdis:

'His cigarettes filled the air with the smell of frankincense, which reminded me of college.'
Ferdis, your sample sentence is interesting. It seems that 'which' here can refer both to 'the smell of frankincense' and the whole preceding clause, doesn't it? Though the second interpretation would again be an example of bad writing, like the original sentence.

IAmWithName2 · Answer

Anonymous
AvangiI'd say in this case it has to be the whole clause, especially since there is no frankincense.
A fair test would be to ask yourself, what, exactly, reminded you of college.

@Avangi, that makes sense, thank you! (It is not my writing, by the way).

@Ferdis:

'His cigarettes filled the air with the smell of frankincense, which reminded me of college.'
Ferdis, your sample sentence is interesting. It seems that 'which' here can refer both to 'the smell of frankincense' and the whole preceding clause, doesn't it? Though the second interpretation would again be an example of bad writing, like the original sentence.

The quote, above, is by me, Jan.
(I was not logged in, sorry)

Clive · Answer

Hi,

So, frankincense smells like tobacco?

How disappointing.

Clive

Which and antecedent

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