Pronoun Ambiguity Nightmares

[silpau]

My understanding of pronoun antecedent selection (all other grammatical errors have been eliminated)
a) When multiple nouns precede a pronoun go with the noun that makes logical sense based on the meaning of sentence
b)If pronouns are embedded in parallel strutures then the intended antecedent should be parallel to the pronoun
I rules strictly in this order first a) followed by b)


In SC startegy guide Chapter 5 on pronouns
a) Researchers claim to have developed new nano-papers incorporting micro cellulose fibers, which THEY allege give THEM the strength of cast iron

In the guide it says that THEY could refer to either to researchers or nano-papers but if we go with the logical meaning of sentence THEY would refer only to researchers

Logically THEM refers to nano-papers not researchers


Now I am totally confused as to when would we say a pronouns antecedent ambiguous?I guess I am not able to wrap my head around some pronoun ambiguity rule

Ron can you please clarify and post the rules for pronoun antecedent selection?

Thanks

[silpau]

Can someone please reply?

[ankitp]

BUMP! - Can someone please reply, I am also lost on this.

[tim]

Regarding the particular question you reference from Chapter 5, I tend to agree with you that logically the THEY refers to researchers. THEY is a subject pronoun whereas THEM is an object pronoun, so THEY properly attaches to the subject of the first half of the sentence. If we agree that THEY refers to researchers, THEM absolutely cannot also refer to researchers (the required pronoun would then be THEMSELVES). Stylistically it's probably a good idea to replace pronouns with nouns anytime there are multiple nouns in order to alleviate extra effort on the part of the reader, but I don't think it is necessary in this case.

[chickaur]

I was reading this chapter as well and I am a bit confused. In the chapter it says, "Make sure that every pronoun has only one possible antecedent."

In the In action problem set, the first sentence is
"When the guests finished their soup they were brought plates of salad." Guests is the antecedent for both their and they and that is correct. So, does that mean that there can be two pronouns for one antecedent?

[StaceyKoprince]

Yes, you can have two pronouns for one antecedent. You should NOT, however, have two antecedents for one pronoun. It only works in one direction. :)

Re: the question up above, I agree that there is some ambiguity there in terms of how we should interpret that. Unfortunately, this topic is not completely black-or-white; ambiguity exists.

I personally do tend to follow the rule that if a parallel structure exists, and the pronoun-antecedent works with both the parallelism and general logic, then I think that's usually okay, assuming there's nothing better. So in the top example, I agree with Tim that I would be okay with "they" referring to "researchers" UNLESS there's some other option that allows me to avoid any potential ambiguity.

Probably the best rule you can remember regarding pronouns is this:

If you see a split between pronouns and a specific noun, prefer the choices that use the specific noun.

So, in the example given in the book, we have an option between using "them" and "these materials." The latter gives us a specific noun, so we would prefer that over the more ambiguous pronoun.