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AN ANTECEDENT IS THE WORD THE PRONOUN REFERS TO.
When you write, it is important to avoid sentences in which a pronoun does not agree with its antecedent.
All pronouns must agree with their antecedents in number, person, and gender.
Read the following sentence: As Amy looked at her newly born niece, she smiled.
Can you tell who is smiling in the sentence? Is Amy smiling or is the baby smiling?
The pronoun, she, is unclear.
The following sentence is rewritten to make it clearer:
Amy smiled as she looked at her newly born niece.
Amy is the antecedent of the pronoun she.
Read the following sentence: When he opened the freezer to take out the fish, it made a startling hissing sound.
Did the freezer make a startling hissing sound or did the fish make a startling hissing sound?
The following sentence is rewritten to make it clearer:
The freezer made a startling hissing sound when he opened it to take out the fish.
Freezer is the antecedent of the pronoun it.
Read the following sentences. Rewrite them so they are more easily understood.
As Joey talked to his best friend on the phone, he was walking to the front door.
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When Terry put the cat Pogo outside, she began to cry.
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Before David went to his friend’s house, he had to finish his homework.
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After she opened the garage door to back out the car, it started to shake.
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