Antecedent - Academic Mode

Definition of Antecedent
Antecedent is an earlier clause, phrase, or word to which a pronoun, noun, or other word refers. In advance, antecedent is a literary device in which a word or pronoun on a line or sentence refers to an earlier word, for example, "While you are giving treats to children or friends, offer them what they want." On this line, children and friends are predecessors, while they are a pronoun referring to friends and children. It is a typical linguistic term and comes from grammar.

Often predecessors and their respective pronouns match in number, which means that if a predecessor is singular, however, the pronoun it replaces is also singular. However, sometimes writers may not follow this rule, and we see singular antecedents being replaced with plural pronouns. Likewise, antecedents and their following pronouns have the same gender.

Difference between antecedent and postcedent
These terms are opposite to each other, as antecedent refers to before or before. It is a phrase that gives meaning to a proform (a noun, pronoun, pro-adverb, or pro-verb). Therefore, Proforms follow their respective histories like, "Elizabeth says she likes coffee." Sometimes they are preceded by these Proforms or pronouns called Postcedents, which means that after or after, "When it's done, I'll definitely be mine." Get a cup of tea. ”

Common examples for Antecedent
David plays soccer in the yard. All the kids have gathered. My uncle likes sweets. He asks everyone to give him sweets as a present.
When children are happy, they clap to express their joy.
The leaves have turned yellow; even then they are in the tree.
The bird ate the fish quickly, and immediately it
A good story must have a quality; It has to have characters, a setting, a narrative and dialogue.
Examples of antecedents in literature
Example 1: Ode to Autumn (by John Keats)
“And even more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never stop,
For the summer her damp cell has overcrowded. "

In the lines above, bees are used as antecedent, and the pronouns" they "and" their "refer to this previously used noun. See that the antecedent and its pronouns are in italics. If we remove the pronouns, these lines will have a completely different and confusing impression, and the meaning will change.

Example # 2: A comedy of errors (By William Shakespeare)
“I don't know any man who doesn't greet me
As if I were his friend well known
And everyone calls me by my name.
Some cash for me; some invite me ... "

Here, Shakespeare uses vaguely referenced pronouns by employing a singular antecedent," a man ", with the plural pronoun" his ". However, the noun all is singular, and they both agree on their numbers. The speaker tries to explain that he did not meet a single person, but that everyone knew his name and therefore refers to all of them as "his."

Example # 3: A Poison Tree (By William Blake)
“… I was angry with my enemy:
I did not say it, my anger grew

And I watered him with fear,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned him with smiles…”

This poem presents a very good example of antecedent , in which the speaker uses the noun "enemy" as the antecedent, and replaces it with the pronoun "that" in the next line. Similarly, he again uses "anger" as the antecedent, and replaces it with "it." "

Example # 4: Othello (By William Shakespeare)
" I think the wind has spoken loudly on the land,
A stronger gust has never shaken our battlements
If it has been so upset at sea
What oak ribs, when the mountains are melt over them ... "

In this excerpt, the antecedent is" wind ", and the pronoun" that "is its denotation, replacing it in the third line. The antecedent makes these lines clear and easy for readers to understand. .

Antecedent function
Antecedent is a very important and useful literary device, as it makes the meaning of a sentence clear to readers. By using references such as them, their, they, he, he and she without any antecedent subject would become confusing. Therefore, the antecedent makes the composition of words, grammar, and the writers' expression clear and precise, since without it, a sentence remains vague and cannot convey an exact meaning. or. It's a misleading concept, albeit a rule worth understanding, because it also helps writers improve their writing style.