Antecedent and Anaphor

An antecedent is a linguistic expression which provides the interpretation for a second expression (anaphor) which has little meaning of its own. An antecedent is usually a noun phrase. In the examples given below, the first bold item is the antecedent and the second is the anaphor referring to it.

• If you see Alice, give her my love. (Antecedent – Alice; anaphor – her)
• She ran into her room. (Antecedent – She; anaphor – her)
• John injured himself playing cricket. (Antecedent – John; anaphor – himself)

An antecedent usually comes before its anaphor. Occasionally it follows its anaphor.

• If you see her, give Alice my love.

An anaphor that precedes its antecedent is sometimes called a cataphor.
It is possible for the antecedent and its anaphor to be in different sentences.

• Alice is my sister. She is an architect. (Antecedent – Alice; anaphor – she)

It is possible for an antecedent to be a verb phrase, an adjective phrase or a prepositional phrase.

• She asked me to post the letter and I did it. (Here the antecedent is the verb phrase – post the letter)
• I thought she was in the room, but I didn’t find her there. (Here the antecedent is the prepositional phrase – in the room)

The antecedent can also be a complete sentence.

• Alice: John is getting married.
• Peter: Who told you that?

Here the anaphor that refers to the entire sentence ‘John is getting married’.

Please share this with others if you feel it's helpful.

An antecedent is a linguistic expression which provides the interpretation for a second expression (anaphor) which has little meaning of its own. An antecedent is usually a noun phrase. In the examples given below, the first bold item is the antecedent and the second is the anaphor referring to it.

• If you see Alice, give her my love. (Antecedent – Alice; anaphor – her)
• She ran into her room. (Antecedent – She; anaphor – her)
• John injured himself playing cricket. (Antecedent – John; anaphor – himself)

An antecedent usually comes before its anaphor. Occasionally it follows its anaphor.

• If you see her, give Alice my love.

An anaphor that precedes its antecedent is sometimes called a cataphor.
It is possible for the antecedent and its anaphor to be in different sentences.

• Alice is my sister. She is an architect. (Antecedent – Alice; anaphor – she)

It is possible for an antecedent to be a verb phrase, an adjective phrase or a prepositional phrase.

• She asked me to post the letter and I did it. (Here the antecedent is the verb phrase – post the letter)
• I thought she was in the room, but I didn’t find her there. (Here the antecedent is the prepositional phrase – in the room)

The antecedent can also be a complete sentence.

• Alice: John is getting married.
• Peter: Who told you that?

Here the anaphor that refers to the entire sentence ‘John is getting married’.

Please share this with others if you feel it's helpful.