Grammar Basics: What Are Antecedents?

When a pronoun replaces a noun, the noun is called an antecedent.

On Michael’s first day of work, he was a little nervous.

Michael is the antecedent and he is the pronoun. The antecedent doesn’t have to go before the pronoun, but putting the pronoun first can make long or complex sentences harder to follow.

On his first day of work, Michael was a little nervous.

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