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aarkay
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What is the antecedent here? 25 Jan 2018, 11:15
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It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

What does the pronoun "it" refer to? What is the antecedent here?


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What is the antecedent here? Updated on: 25 Jan 2018, 13:17
Originally posted by sdlife on 25 Jan 2018, 12:59.
Last edited by sdlife on 25 Jan 2018, 13:17, edited 1 time in total.
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aarkay
It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

What does the pronoun "it" refer to? What is the antecedent here?

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"It" doesn't have an antecedent here. "It" is used a placeholder here.
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What is the antecedent here? 25 Jan 2018, 13:08
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"it" is used by impersonal pronoun.
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What is the antecedent here? 25 Jan 2018, 22:09
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KDW
"it" is used by impersonal pronoun.
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Thank you KDW.

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What is the antecedent here? 25 Jan 2018, 22:09
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aarkay
It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

What does the pronoun "it" refer to? What is the antecedent here?


"It" doesn't have an antecedent here. "It" is used a placeholder here.
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Thank you sdlife

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What is the antecedent here? 25 Jan 2018, 22:55
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aarkay
It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

What does the pronoun "it" refer to? What is the antecedent here?

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using GMAT Club Forum mobile app
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aarkay - It here has no antecedent.
There is a rare exception to the rule that every pronoun must stand for an actual noun.

That exception is evident in this example. It here is a placeholder, as sdlife noted.

Almost always, if it appears at the beginning of a sentence as a subject, it is functioning as a placeholder.

In other words, when it appears anywhere else, look for an antecedent.

A placeholder has no antecedent (does not stand for an actual noun), but on the GMAT, it as a placeholder has a referent (see CrackVerbalGMAT 's post, linked below).

It is used as a placeholder in a few very specific situations.
Different experts classify these situations with different words.

I will paraphrase.
On the GMAT, it is a placeholder in these situations:

1) Before an infinitive phrase.

It is unwise to underestimate bullies.

2) Before a THAT/WHO clause or object.

It was a hippopotamus, not an elephant, that charged the safari bus.

3) Before a DESCRIPTION followed by THAT and an independent clause (full sentence).

It is a shame that he cannot travel.
It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

CrackVerbalGMAT wrote an excellent post on the use of "it" as a placeholder.

Also take a look here.

This issue is not huge. Please don't get too worried about it.

Hope that helps. :-)
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What is the antecedent here? 26 Jan 2018, 01:10
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aarkay
It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

What does the pronoun "it" refer to? What is the antecedent here?
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Hi aarkay, it refers to that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

In other words, the sentence is basically suggesting:

(that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness) appears to me.

Similarly, another example:

It takes great courage to prevail amidst uncertainty.

Here, it refers to to prevail amidst uncertainty. In other words, the sentence is basically suggesting:

(to prevail amidst uncertainty) takes great courage.

These are couple of cases where pronoun appears before the antecedent. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses these scenarios (in which the pronoun appears before the antecedent), their application and examples in significant detail. If someone is interested, PM me your email-id; I can mail the corresponding section.
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What is the antecedent here? 26 Jan 2018, 07:35
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generis

aarkay - It here has no antecedent.
There is a rare exception to the rule that every pronoun must stand for an actual noun.

That exception is evident in this example. It here is a placeholder, as sdlife noted.

Almost always, if it appears at the beginning of a sentence as a subject, it is functioning as a placeholder.

In other words, when it appears anywhere else, look for an antecedent.

A placeholder has no antecedent (does not stand for an actual noun), but on the GMAT, it as a placeholder has a referent (see CrackVerbalGMAT 's post, linked below).

It is used as a placeholder in a few very specific situations.
Different experts classify these situations with different words.

I will paraphrase.
On the GMAT, it is a placeholder in these situations:

1) Before an infinitive phrase.

It is unwise to underestimate bullies.

2) Before a THAT/WHO clause or object.

It was a hippopotamus, not an elephant, that charged the safari bus.

3) Before a DESCRIPTION followed by THAT and an independent clause (full sentence).

It is a shame that he cannot travel.
It appears to me that John dropped out of college for reasons other than his illness.

CrackVerbalGMAT wrote an excellent post on the use of "it" as a placeholder.

Also take a look here.

This issue is not huge. Please don't get too worried about it.

Hope that helps. :-)
Show more
Thank you for the detailed explanation.:)


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