這個代名詞是誰的？He、She、They、It 與消失的名詞

「Maria told Lena that she should call the manager.」

小問題：she 是誰？

Maria？Lena？還是某個躲在辦公室印表機後面的神祕第三人？

Pronouns 很有用，因為它們讓我們不用一直重複同一個名詞，直到整段聽起來像機器人在念電話簿。但 pronouns 需要清楚的主人。當主人消失或不清楚時，聽者就得猜，而猜測不是文法策略，是求生技能。

快速答案

Pronoun 會取代或指向一個 noun。

• Maria is late. She is on the bus.

She 指向 Maria。

pronoun 指涉的名詞常被稱為 antecedent。你不需要記住這個術語才能使用規則：每個 pronoun 都應該有清楚的名詞主人。

常見 pronouns 包括：

• Subject: I, you, he, she, it, we, they
• Object: me, you, him, her, it, us, them
• Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
• Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
• Reflexive: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

主要目標是清楚。好的 pronoun 讓句子更順。糟糕的 pronoun 會把句子變成小型偵查任務。

最好的測試很簡單：寫下 pronoun 之後，往前指並問：「它取代的是哪一個精確名詞？」如果你的手指遲疑，讀者也會遲疑。如果兩個名詞在競爭同一個 pronoun，就重複其中一個名詞，或改寫句子。

模式

Pronouns 需要在三方面和名詞配合：

1. Person：第一人稱、第二人稱或第三人稱。
2. Number：單數或複數。
3. Role：主詞、受詞、所有格或反身。

Person

First person 表示說話者或寫作者：

• I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours

Second person 表示聽者或讀者：

• you, your, yours

Third person 表示其他人或其他東西：

• he, him, his
• she, her, hers
• it, its
• they, them, their, theirs

Number

Singular pronouns 指向一個人或東西。

• The phone is charging. It is on the desk.

Plural pronouns 指向超過一個。

• The tickets are ready. They are in your email.

They 也可以指單一人物，當性別未知、不重要，或刻意不指定時。

• Someone left their notebook here.

這種用法常見且實用，尤其當身分不明，或你不想猜測時。

Role

Subject pronouns 執行動作：

• She called.
• They arrived.

Object pronouns 接受動作：

• I called her.
• We invited them.

Possessive forms 表示所有或關聯：

• Her idea was practical.
• That notebook is hers.
• Their flight was delayed.

Reflexive pronouns 指回主詞：

• He blamed himself.
• They introduced themselves.

自然例句

清楚的代名詞指涉

• Daniel found his keys. They were under the couch.

His 指向 Daniel。They 指向 keys。不需要偵探工作。

• The proposal was long, but it was clear.

It 指向 proposal。

• Aisha and Morgan finished their slides before lunch.

Their 指向 Aisha and Morgan。

不清楚的代名詞指涉

• Jordan emailed Casey after he finished the report.

誰完成了報告？Jordan 還是 Casey？

更好：

• After Jordan finished the report, he emailed Casey.
• Jordan emailed Casey after Casey finished the report.

有時最簡單的修正就是重複名詞。重複比混亂好。

用於事物、動物與想法的 pronouns

用 it 指一個東西、身分不被個人化的一隻動物，或一個想法。

• The laptop is old, but it still works.
• The bird built its nest under the roof.
• The plan sounded risky, but it succeeded.

用 they 指複數的東西、動物或想法。

• The files are large, so they may take a minute to upload.
• The rules look simple, but they can be tricky.

This、that、these 和 those

這些字可以指向名詞，也可以指向整個想法。

• This is helpful.
• That was unexpected.
• These are expensive.
• Those look comfortable.

它們很有用，但也可能變得模糊。

• The team changed the deadline after the client revised the scope. This caused confusion.

是什麼造成混亂：deadline 改變、scope 修正，還是整個情況？

更好：

• The changed deadline caused confusion.
• The client's revised scope caused confusion.
• The combination of both changes caused confusion.

Possessive its 和 it's

這一組麻煩，是因為 apostrophe 看起來像所有格，但英文在這裡選擇了混亂。

• its = 屬於它
• it's = it is / it has

例子：

• The company changed its policy.
• It's going to rain.
• It's been a long day.

如果可以換成 it is 或 it has，用 it's。不行就用 its。

One、ones 和 they

英文常用 one 或 ones 避免重複可數名詞。

• I like the blue shirt, but the green one is cheaper.
• These examples are useful. The shorter ones are easier to remember.

單數可數名詞用 one，複數可數名詞用 ones。不可數名詞不要用 one。

• I need advice. Your advice was helpful.

不是每個重複名詞都需要 pronoun。有時重複名詞比較乾淨，尤其當名詞抽象，或句子裡已經有好幾個可能指涉時。

長段落中的 pronouns

段落越長，pronoun clarity 越重要。

• The committee reviewed the proposal after the finance team revised the budget. It was approved on Friday.

被批准的是 proposal 還是 budget？讀者可以猜，但小改寫能移除猜測。

• The committee approved the revised proposal on Friday.

更短、更清楚，而且沒有人需要審問 it。

常見陷阱

陷阱 1：主人消失

• They said the price will increase.

They 是誰？公司？新聞？走廊裡的人？如果名詞重要，就說出來。

• The company said the price will increase.

陷阱 2：兩個可能的主人

• Emma called Priya while she was driving.

誰在開車？更好：

• Emma called Priya while Emma was driving.
• Emma called Priya while Priya was driving.

陷阱 3：代名詞數量不一致

• The documents are ready. It is on the table.
• The documents are ready. They are on the table.

複數名詞，複數 pronoun。

陷阱 4：主詞和受詞混淆

• Her and I finished the task.
• She and I finished the task.

句子的主詞使用 subject pronouns。

• The manager thanked she and I.
• The manager thanked her and me.

動詞後方使用 object pronouns。

陷阱 5：反身代名詞用錯位置來強調

• Please send the file to myself.
• Please send the file to me.

當主詞和受詞是同一人時，才使用 reflexive pronouns。

• I sent the file to myself.

錯誤 / 更好 / 原因

小練習

選出較清楚或正確的選項。

1. Alex met Robin after he left work.
   a. Clear
   b. Unclear

2. The boxes arrived, but _____ were damaged.
   a. it
   b. they
   c. them

3. The app saves _____ settings automatically.
   a. its
   b. it's
   c. it

4. The teacher helped Maya and _____.
   a. I
   b. me
   c. myself

5. Someone forgot _____ umbrella.
   a. their
   b. its
   c. them

6. I made the reservation _____.
   a. me
   b. myself
   c. mine

答案

1. b. Unclear - He 可能指 Alex 或 Robin。
2. b. they - Boxes 是複數，而且 pronoun 是主詞。
3. a. its - Settings 屬於 app。
4. b. me - pronoun 在 helped 後面作受詞。
5. a. their - 當人物未指定時，singular they 很實用。
6. b. myself - 主詞和受詞指同一人。

超短總結

Pronouns 是捷徑，而捷徑只有在通往清楚地方時才有幫助。每個 he、she、they、it、this 和 that 都應該指向明顯的名詞或想法。配合數量，選對角色，需要清楚時就重複名詞。一點重複沒關係；混亂的 pronoun 會讓一個句子像少了最後一頁的推理小說。