A missing subject or unclear reference happens when 他, 它, 这 or an empty subject could mean more than one thing. The writer knows the answer, so the problem is invisible from inside.
This lesson shows how to find these gaps and close them. Chinese examples stay in Simplified Chinese with pinyin.
How do you find an unclear reference?
Read your paragraph as a stranger. At each sentence, ask: who is doing this, and what does 这 or 它 point to? If the answer needs the previous sentence and that sentence has two candidates, the reader will hesitate.
Two situations cause most gaps:
- The subject changes silently. One person acts, then another does, but no new subject appears.
- A pronoun has two possible targets. 他 after two boys, or 这 after a long sentence full of ideas.
Worked example
This is an invented practice paragraph, written for this lesson.
小林和弟弟去公园。看见一只小狗，很可爱。他把面包给它吃。这让他很开心。
Step 1, mark every subject. Sentence 2 has no subject. Sentence 3 has 他. Sentence 4 has 这 and 他.
Step 2, ask who or what each one is. Sentence 2: who saw the dog? Sentence 3: 他 could be 小林 or 弟弟. Sentence 4: what is 这, and who is 他?
Step 3, decide the facts. Say 小林 fed the dog and 弟弟 found it cute.
Step 4, rewrite with names and nouns where the reader could be lost.
小林和弟弟去公园，看见一只小狗。弟弟觉得它很可爱。小林把面包分给它吃，这个小动作让弟弟很开心。
Now every subject is clear. 它 refers to the only animal, and 这个小动作 names what 这 pointed to.
The mistake to watch for
A common overcorrection is to replace every pronoun with a name.
Mistaken fix: 小林去公园。小林看见小狗。小林给小狗面包。小林很开心。
Nothing is unclear, but the paragraph reads like a list.
The better habit is to repair only where a reader could mix people up. When one person acts through several clauses, drop the repeated subject and join them with a comma, as in 小林去公园，看见小狗，给它面包。
Check yourself
1. 妈妈和姐姐在厨房。她做了一碗汤。Who is 她? Rewrite so it is clear that 姐姐 cooked.
Show answer
Unclear, because 她 could be 妈妈 or 姐姐. Repair: 妈妈和姐姐在厨房，姐姐做了一碗汤。
2. 他今天迟到了，被老师批评了。这很不公平。Rewrite the last sentence so the reader knows what is unfair.
Show answer
Name the thing: 被老师批评这件事很不公平 or 他觉得被批评很不公平。
3. 小明借了小华的书，他很感谢。Who is thankful?
Show answer
Either could be meant. Choose one: 小明借了小华的书，小明很感谢他。
Where this leads next
After fixing who is acting, trim words that add nothing in removing a redundant phrase. If a draft of yours has a lot of loose 这 and 他, paste it into the writing revision compare view and compare before and after.
A teacher who reads your paragraph for the first time shows you the gaps you cannot see. Our team does this in online one-to-one Chinese tuition.