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One of my pet peeves is reading sentences which contain an ambiguous pronoun. \u00a0The pronoun stands alone, isolated. The lonely goatherd on the hilltop. Sentences that start with, or contain, an unattached\u00a0this, they, it, those, these<\/em>\u00a0seem to expect the reader to just know what the\u00a0this, they, it, those,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0these<\/em>\u00a0refer to.<\/p>\n In reality, the singleton pronoun is screaming for some company. Without a noun, what we call the referent \u2013 the thing that the this, they, it, those\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0these<\/em>\u00a0refer to \u2013 the reader just has to guess what the writer means. The reader has to set up a bit of blind dating to get to the point.<\/p>\n Let me give you an example to clarify what I mean.\u00a0Sometimes the lonely little pronoun\u00a0this, they, it, those, these<\/em>\u00a0has to do the work of starting off a new sentence. As here:<\/p>\n Doctoral writing demands text work and identity work, patience, persistence and creativity.\u00a0This<\/strong>\u00a0is why it is often hard.<\/em><\/p>\n But\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>what? Doctoral writing? Text work and identity work, patience, persistence or creativity? Some of the above? All of above? Or is it the combination that is important? In which case write:<\/p>\n Doctoral writing demands text work and identity work, patience, persistence and creativity. This combination of time-limited practice, skills and habits often make\u00a0it<\/strong>\u00a0hard for new PhDers.<\/em><\/p>\n But hang on, what is\u00a0it<\/em>\u00a0in the new second sentence? Here the solitary pronoun comes in the middle of a sentence; perhaps, as in this case, attempting to set the scene for the sentence or the paragraph to follow.<\/p>\n Doctoral writing demands text work and identity work, patience, persistence and creativity. This combination of-time-limited practice, skills and habits means that new PhDers can have difficulty settling into their new programme. Because of\u00a0this<\/strong>, supervisors and graduate schools need to provide a range of formal and informal support.<\/em><\/p>\n Oh dear, here we go again. What is\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Because of this<\/em>? Does the writer mean supervisors need to attend to all of the issues listed or to the tricky combination, or both?<\/p>\n Doctoral writing demands text work and identity work, patience, persistence and creativity. This combination of-time-limited practice, skills and habits means that new PhDers can have difficulty settling into their new programme. Because new PhDers may be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new tasks and expectations, supervisors and graduate schools need to provide them with a range of formal and informal support.<\/em><\/p>\n Not fantastic writing I agree, but as it\u2019s a draft, I get another chance to finesse the syntax.<\/p>\n But hang on a minute. What I\u2019ve actually been forced to do, by getting rid of the ambiguous pronouns is to get much more specific about what I actually mean. I had to specify what I meant by\u00a0this, it<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>(again). Having to sort out what the pronouns referred to compelled me to clarify that I was concerned about the combination and volume of simultaneous demands made of new PhDs. If I had stuck with the indeterminate pronouns, the reader would have had much less idea of what I was trying to say.<\/p>\n Using ambiguous pronouns is actually kinda sloppy. But sloppiness occurs for different reasons. Readers can interpret a writer\u2019s use of vague pronouns as a lack of care. A reader might assume that if we don\u2019t really spell out what we mean and we just gesture towards something that we assume the reader can figure it out for themselves. Not really what we want to communicate.\u00a0But let\u2019s assume that you are not cavalier about the reader and you really do want them to follow what you say. So think of the ambiguous\u00a0this, they, it, those, these<\/em>\u00a0as a first step towards getting clear.<\/p>\n Writers very often use vague pronouns when they\/we are speed writing and\/or producing a first draft. The pronouns are a kind of shorthand for the-thought-we-don\u2019t-have-time-to-develop. We are so focused on the big idea we can\u2019t stop to build the finer details of our case. Locating\u00a0this, they, it, those, these<\/em>\u00a0then becomes \u00a0important in working further on the text.\u00a0Looking for the\u00a0this, they, it, those, these<\/em>\u00a0which don\u2019t refer to anything is one of the tasks needed in revision.<\/p>\n