antecedent meaning example
Learner's definition of ANTECEDENT. 1. [count] grammar : a word or phrase that is represented by another word (such as a pronoun) “John” is the antecedent of the pronoun “him” in “Mary saw John and thanked him.”. An antecedent is the word that a pronoun replaces or refers to. Any time that you have a pronoun, you'll have an antecedent, even if it's not in the very same sentence. This makes sense; if we didn't have an antecedent for every pronoun, we'd be left with a lot of confusion. Despite the implications of the term (Latin ante- means before), an antecedent can follow rather than precede [the pronoun]: 'For his first Pacific voyage, Cook had no chronometer' (Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language, 2005). See Examples and Observations below. Also see: [count] formal : something that came before something else and may have influenced or caused it. 1  The events were antecedents of/to the war. [=the events helped to cause the war] 2  the antecedents of rap music [=music that came before and influenced rap music] You might think rap music has no historical antecedent, but earlier forms of African-American spoken verse go back for centuries. In logic, mathematics, and grammar, the word antecedent (from Latin ante-, before + cedere, to yield) has the meaning the first part of a statement.. More generally, it means something that came before, and perhaps caused, something else.. In English grammar, an antecedent is the noun or noun phrase that a pronoun refers to. Also known as a referent. More broadly, an antecedent may be any word in a sentence (or in a sequence of sentences) that another word or phrase refers to. Pronouns are generic words that have little meaning on their own. If you hear a friend say, She is beautiful, you know your friend is referring to a singular, feminine being or object, but with just the pronoun she, you don't know if the discussion concerns a woman, a cheetah, or an automobile. That means that if an antecedent is feminine, then the corresponding pronoun must also be feminine. If an antecedent is masculine, then the corresponding pronoun must also be masculine. Indefinite pronouns do not refer to a specific person or thing. Indefinite pronouns can be used as antecedents in sentences. That means that if an antecedent is feminine, then the corresponding pronoun must also be feminine. For example, you might say, My sister is at the top of her class. In this sentence, the antecedent is 'sister,' which is a feminine noun. The correct pronoun is used here, as 'her' is a feminine pronoun. Eating with your mouth closed = phrase as antecedent; it = personal pronoun. Karline hopes that her roommates remember to walk the new puppy. It will mean less urine to mop up when she gets home. That her roommates remember to walk the new puppy = clause as antecedent; it = personal pronoun. Other times, the antecedent might be the word, phrase, or clause that a demonstrative pronoun replaces.
It means a word or phrase that is represented by another word. For example, you might say, My sister is at the top of her class. In this sentence, the antecedent is 'sister,' which is a feminine noun.