Reference words let a writer avoid repetition: it, they, these, this, which, the former, the latter. A specific-information question may ask what one of them points to, or need the answer to a question that depends on working it out.
Tracking a reference means finding the exact word or idea behind it. It builds on reading dates and conditions carefully, because the information you need is often split across two sentences.
How do I find what a reference word points to?
The referent is almost always before the word, usually in the same or the previous sentence. Follow these steps.
- Circle the reference word and read the whole sentence it is in.
- Look back to the previous sentence and list the possible nouns or ideas.
- Check number. Singular reference words (it, this, that) need a singular referent. Plural ones (they, these, those) need a plural one.
- Substitute each candidate into the sentence. Keep the one that makes complete sense.
- Check the nearest noun last, not first. The closest noun is a common wrong choice.
Worked example
The school garden was started by Year 9 students. They planted herbs first, but these did not grow well in the shade. This led the club to move them to the roof, where it was much sunnier.
Question: What does “it” in “where it was much sunnier” refer to?
Step 1, circle: “it” in the last clause.
Step 2, candidates in that sentence: the club, the roof, them (the herbs).
Step 3, check number: “it” is singular. “Them” is plural, so the herbs are out.
Step 4, substitute:
- “where the club was much sunnier”: not sensible.
- “where the roof was much sunnier”: makes sense, since the passage is about light.
Answer: the roof.
Notice the other references in the passage. “They” in the second sentence is the Year 9 students, “these” is the herbs, and “This” is the whole decision that the herbs did not grow well.
The mistake to watch for
Mistaken answer: “it” refers to the club.
The club is the subject of the main clause, so it feels like the natural noun. But “where” introduces a description of the roof’s location, and a club cannot be “much sunnier”. Meaning is the test, not position.
The correction is to substitute each candidate and read the full sentence aloud. The wrong noun usually sounds odd.
Check yourself
1. “Mr Lim gave Arif a spare key because he had lost his own. He returned it the next day.” Who returned what?
Show answer
Arif returned the spare key. “He” is the person who lost his own key, and “it” is the key that was lent to him.
2. “The council built a cycle lane beside the river and a car park near the market. The former attracted families; the latter was rarely full.” What does “the latter” refer to?
Show answer
The car park. “The former” is the first thing named (the cycle lane) and “the latter” is the second thing named.
3. “Sara’s brother and her cousin both took the exam. Only the latter passed.” Who passed?
Show answer
Sara’s cousin. The latter means the second of the two people, and the cousin is named second.
Where this leads next
The next lesson uses references to help with options that copy words from the passage: identify a correct detail when distractors reuse words. You can also return to the module overview, and the writing revision compare view is useful for checking whether your own paraphrase keeps the same referent.
If reference words are where your reading usually breaks down, a teacher in online one-to-one English as a Second Language tuition can build short practice passages around exactly that.