Vague pronoun reference is a grammatical error that really bothers me. Almost as much as dangling participles and modifiers. Each pronoun should clearly refer to one and only one antecedent in each sentence.
John bought a deluxe cheeseburger and he ate it. In this sentence he clearly refers to John and it to the deluxe cheeseburger. (I’m making myself hungry…)
Too many antecedents in one sentence is one cause of vague pronoun reference. Jason and Bryce went to the jewelry store and he had a hard selecting an engagement ring. He can refer to either Jason or Bryce. Even though the reader can probably discern if it’s Jason or Bryce from context, the sentence is still wrong.
One solution is to substitute the pronoun for the specific noun although that can add redundancy to the sentence. Jason and Bryce went to the jewelry store and Bryce had a hard selecting an engagement ring. Another option is to re-work the sentence so as to remove the vagueness. Bringing Jason, Bryce went to the jewelry store and he had a hard selecting an engagement ring or Jason and Bryce went to the jewelry store and they had a hard selecting an engagement ring.
Both these options are grammatically correct. I feel that vague pronoun reference is something a good writer should avoid and/or take the time to correct.
Iceberg by Gibbs Island
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