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說到英文文法，不能不提及使用正確pronouns的重要性；倘若同學們能懂得正確運用pronouns的話，不但同學們在作文時可避免不必要的錯誤，亦能在paper 1 reading中取得較好的分數。其實pronouns並不困難；有關pronouns的mistakes，主要有以下兩個issues︰
1. Pronoun與其antecedent 的不配合（mismatch）
E.g. If a student wants to succeed in HKDSE exam, they have to know the format of the exam well. (×)
以上的例子中，pronoun「they」 與其 antecedent「a student」在number上不配合(「a student」是單數而「they」則是多過一)。
正確的用法應是如下：
a. If a student wants to succeed in HKDSE exam, he/she has to know the format of the exam well. ("He/she" agrees with the singular antecedent "a student")
b. If students want to succeed in HKDSE exam, they have to know the format of the exam well. ("They" agree with the plural antecedent "students")
要記住，無論你的句子是singular or plural都沒有問題；最重要是句子中的pronoun要與其antecedent在number、gender及person上配合。
2. Pronoun reference的問題
另外一個常被同學忽略的問題就有關pronoun reference的issue；它可再分為A. ambiguous reference的問題；B. missing/implied antecedent的問題。
A. Ambiguous reference
簡單來說，句子有多過一個可與pronoun配合的antecedents，因而產生confusion。
E.g. Jane told Mary that her husband was depressed.
(Whose husband is depressed? Jane's or Mary's)
以上的例子，「her」 可以用來refer to both Jane's and Mary's，因此句子意思並不清楚。
B. Missing/ implied antecedent
除此以外，有時同學忘記了放antecedent在句中， 卻用上了pronoun，如此句子的意思當然是不清楚。
E.g. Jason went to the library hoping that they helped teach him how to search for relevant databases.
句子的「they」究竟是stand for甚麽？作者並沒有交代。■Dr. A. Chan
作者簡介：哲學博士，哲學碩士，文學士，英語講師。熟悉公開考試之出題模式與評分準則，任教英語。
逢星期五見報
Practice
Revise the following sentences so that the sentences are free of mistakes in pronouns.
1. When Jonathan takes his son Lee to the amusement park, he enjoys himself.
2. Each class teacher must make sure that their students submit their assignments on time.
Answers
1.When Jonathan takes his son Lee to the amusement park, he enjoys himself.
Revised: When Jonathan takes his son Lee to the amusement park, Lee enjoys himself.
2.Each class teacher must make sure that their students submit their assignments on time.
Revised: All class teachers must make sure that their students submit their assignments on time.
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