Every pronoun must have an antecedent

[SudhanshuK453]

A very popular rule in SC is that every pronoun must have an antecedent.

So, is this sentence correct:

Because he was sick, John did not go to school.

I ask this because he has no antecedent but the sentence is perfectly logical.

[Chelsey Cooley]

Ooh, nice catch. Sadly, this is one of many grammar questions that I have to answer by saying that English is a pretty ridiculous language sometimes.

In this case, he does have an antecedent: it's John. In some specific situations, the antecedent can come after the pronoun. The bad news is that even though you might recognize these situations when you see them (I'm providing some more examples below), giving a thorough definition of them is tough even for linguists. The good news is that I've never seen a GMAT problem that tested pronoun/antecedent relationships in this way, so you probably don't have to worry about it!

Examples:

After she got an 800 on the GMAT, Priya applied to work for Manhattan Prep.
Since they refused to eat their carrots, my children won't be getting dessert tonight.

[RonPurewal]

this is totally a thing. i opened my 2016 OG to a couple of random pages in the SC chapter, and alighted upon problems 37 and 49. check them out.

also—more importantly—YOU should do the same thing!
it only took me a few seconds to find those two problems. thus you'll often be able to resolve these kinds of issues more quickly just by flipping through the book than by posting them here.

you're welcome to post them here, of course, but it's always a good idea to do your own 'homework' first.

[RonPurewal]

i have a different question, though: why don't you think 'he' has an antecedent? 'John' is a perfectly workable antecedent.

perhaps you're being overly literal about the prefix ante- (from the latin for 'before'), and thinking that the noun must come first.
if that's what you are thinking, then the above problems disprove that notion.

[aflaamM589]

this is totally a thing. i opened my 2016 OG to a couple of random pages in the SC chapter, and alighted upon problems 37 and 49. check them out.

also—more importantly—YOU should do the same thing!
it only took me a few seconds to find those two problems. thus you'll often be able to resolve these kinds of issues more quickly just by flipping through the book than by posting them here.

you're welcome to post them here, of course, but it's always a good idea to do your own 'homework' first.

Hello Ron,
Hope you are doing great.
Can you please quote the initial few words of the cited questions. In this way you won't be violating the forum rules and those who don't possess this version of OG will get the benefit of this beautiful explanation.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.

[RonPurewal]

sure, no problem.

37/ "Not trusting themselves to choose..."

49/ "Outlining his strategy for nursing..."

[AsadA969]

i have a different question, though: why don't you think 'he' has an antecedent? 'John' is a perfectly workable antecedent.

Hi Ron and Chelsey Cooley,
Hope you're well. If someone write that sentence like below, then what's your opinion?
As she was sick, John did not go to school.

N.B.: In the above sentence, ''she'' indicates ''John's'' mother. The above sentence convinces us that ''John'' looks after his mother all day long when his mother feels sick-he usually did not go to school in that day.
Thank you Ron and Chelsey Cooley.

[RonPurewal]

i think you may have posted this on the wrong thread...?

(the word "mother" doesn't appear anywhere in that sentence -- or, in fact, anywhere in this entire thread)