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Proper grammar and style are both important in writing, as it’s important in producing clear writing.

The above sentence might seem like a good, solid writing tip, but can you identify the issue with the above sentence?

If you said “ambiguous pronoun,” you are correct. If you said “improper noun-pronoun agreement,” you would also be correct. However, the main issue is ambiguity.

It’s not clear whether the pronoun “it’s” is referring to “grammar,” “style,” or meant to refer to both. It boils down to two specific issues.

Let’s look at the issue with the ambiguous pronoun, assuming the pronoun is meant to be a singular pronoun. This sentence suffers from a pronoun (a word meant to replace a noun) that has more than one potential noun reference. “It’s” might refer to “grammar” or “style.” It’s not clear which noun the pronoun refers to, and so, the unclear reference introduces ambiguity. Is grammar or style important to producing clear writing?

Proper grammar and style are both important in writing, since style is important in producing clear writing.

Now, let’s turn to the issue of improper noun-pronoun agreement. If “it’s” is meant to refer to both grammar and style, then it needs to be a plural pronoun, like “they.”

Proper grammar and style are both important in writing, as they are important in producing clear writing.

Don’t torture your reader by making them try to figure it out. Always pay attention to pronoun use and re-read those sentences carefully. If there is more than one noun in a sentence and only one pronoun, make sure the pronoun carefully refers to a particular noun. An easy solution is to replace that pronoun with the noun itself, like in the first correct example.

Ambiguous pronouns are probably the most common error I see in editing. If I get to a pronoun, and it’s not immediately clear what that pronoun is referring to, then it’s an ambiguous pronoun.

Remember: “Pronoun and noun, who is abound?” If that question can’t be answered clearly for a pronoun, then it’s time to rethink the use of that pronoun.

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