Vague Pronouns

Avoid Vague Pronouns

  • To make your writing both concise and precise, avoid starting sentences with "this" followed by a verb. Your language ends up being wordy and not as clear as you could make it.

  • Avoid vague pronoun references such as “this is,” “there are,” “it is,” “that is,” etc. Instead, use active verbs as much as possible and avoid overusing the “be” verb (am, is, are, was, were, be been, being) in order to increase the sophistication of your word choice.

  • “The easiest way to avoid using vague pronouns in your writing is to ensure that you are clear and specific about what you are referring to, which is best accomplished by using demonstrative pronouns as adjectives that modify a more descriptive term (e.g., ‘This inconsistency’ or ‘These findings’).”

Examples

Examples were taken from https://www.aje.com/en/author-resources/articles/editing-tip-avoiding-vague-pronouns

VAGUE:

“The concentrations were high and ranged from 13,640 to 17,440 ng/L. This is slightly lower than the highest overall concentrations detected.”

“This” is used as a demonstrative pronoun and the subject of the sentence.

BETTER:

The concentrations were high and ranged from 13,640 to 17,440 ng/L. These concentrations are slightly lower than the highest overall concentrations detected.

This” is used as a demonstrative adjective and has a noun that followings as the subject of the sentence.

VAGUE

“The National Institute of Child Health has issued warnings about excessive internet use. Unfortunately, it has not been given much attention in the media.”

BETTER

“The National Institute of Child Health has issued warnings about excessive internet use. Unfortunately, these findings have not been given much attention in the media.”

Examples taken from https://www.aje.com/en/author-resources/articles/editing-tip-avoiding-vague-pronouns

VAGUE

Thomas was always unprepared for class. It made his teacher increasingly mad.

Thomas was always unprepared for class. This made his teacher increasingly mad.

CORRECTED

You could replace it with a noun:

Thomas was always unprepared for class, and his constant unpreparedness drove his teacher crazy.

Examples take from https://writingcommons.org/open-text/style/grammar/419-avoid-vague-pronoun-references

Corrections

  • You could add a noun to “this”:

Thomas was always unprepared for class, and this habit of his drove his teacher crazy.

  • You could combine the two parts into a single statement:

Thomas’s constant unpreparedness made his teacher increasingly mad.

  • You could add a noun before which:

Harry was always unprepared for class, a habit which drove his teacher crazy.