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?