PSLE English Learning Guide: Track Who “He”, “She”, “It” and “They” Refer To

PSLE English Learning Guide · Guide 2
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“The parcel was left beside the cabinet. It was damaged.”

Which object was damaged: the parcel or the cabinet? From those two sentences alone, both readings are possible. Choosing the nearest noun would produce “the cabinet”, but proximity does not settle the meaning. A later sentence might make the answer clear. Without that evidence, the careful response is to recognise the ambiguity.

Now read a revised version: “The parcel was left beside the cabinet. Its torn wrapping exposed the books inside.” The wrapping and books direct attention to the parcel. The writer has supplied a usable connection.

This is the skill behind reference tracking: identify the person, object, group or idea that a short expression stands for, and check that the choice makes sense in the whole passage. A learner who loses that connection can read every word correctly and still assign an action to the wrong person.

Do not merely find a nearby name. Follow the meaning. This guide shows how to follow it through narration, dialogue, lists, changing groups and sentences in which “this” refers to an entire event. All practice passages and questions are original teaching material, not official examination questions.

Find the part of reference tracking that needs attention

Start with the replacement test if you usually guess from the nearest noun. Use the speaker map if “I” and “you” become confusing in dialogue. Read the section on whole ideas if “this” seems to refer to more than one word. Use the ambiguity clinic if two answers appear possible. The final new passage checks whether the method still works without the earlier examples in view.

What reference does · The replacement test · Changing speakers · Whole-idea reference · The lantern passage · Ambiguity clinic · Independent practice · Parent and teacher guide

What reference does for a reader

Names and full descriptions establish who or what is being discussed. Shorter expressions then allow the writer to continue without repeating the same description in every sentence. “The caretaker unlocked the storeroom. He switched on the light” is more natural than repeating “the caretaker” at every opportunity.

The shorter wording is useful only while the connection remains recoverable. If several people enter the account, a pronoun that was clear earlier may become uncertain. Reference tracking is therefore not a one-time matching exercise. The reader keeps updating the connection as the passage develops.

The British Council’s personal-pronoun reference explains the subject and object forms used in English. This guide applies that basic grammatical material to original reading tasks. Knowing a pronoun’s form helps, but identifying its particular referent still requires the passage.

In “The caretaker thanked the pupils. They had returned the tools”, “they” connects to the pupils. In “The caretaker thanked the pupils. They thanked him in return”, the same group remains the subject while “him” points to the caretaker. The reader must keep the roles separate: who performs the action and who receives it.

A useful question is not simply “Which noun came before the pronoun?” It is “Which candidate fits this action, this sentence and this point in the account?”

Make a reference map, not a list of guesses

A reference map can be very small. Write the people or objects that matter, then attach their actions. For example: caretaker — unlocks room, receives thanks; pupils — return tools, thank caretaker. When a pronoun appears, connect it to the appropriate entry.

This is a practice aid, not a requirement to draw a diagram for every examination sentence. Its purpose is to show whether a learner is maintaining stable identities while the writer changes the wording.

Consider: “The younger volunteers carried the empty boxes. The older group moved the tables. They finished before lunch.” Here “they” could refer to the older group or, depending on the wider context, both groups collectively. A map reveals the uncertainty instead of disguising it with a quick answer.

The writer could resolve the uncertainty: “Both groups finished before lunch” or “The older group finished before lunch.” A clear map helps with writing as well as reading, because it exposes the point at which the reader has to guess.

Keep the map based on the passage. Do not add facts about a person merely because the name feels familiar. The text, not the reader’s assumptions about names or backgrounds, must establish the relevant connections.

The replacement test: Put the full meaning back

After choosing a candidate, replace the short expression with that candidate and reread the sentence. This is a check, not a mechanical solution. A replacement may be grammatically possible and still fail in context.

“The pupils placed the cushions on the benches because they were wet.” If “they” means the cushions, the sentence gives wet cushions as the reason for placing them on benches. If it means the benches, it gives wet benches as the reason for covering them. Both are grammatically possible; neither is settled by number alone. More context is needed.

Now add: “The seats had not dried after the morning rain.” That detail makes the benches the supported referent. The full reading becomes: “The pupils placed the cushions on the benches because the benches were wet.” Whether that is a sensible practical decision is separate from identifying what the passage says.

For a clearer example, read: “Asha put the bookmark inside the novel before lending it to her cousin.” The action of lending could apply to either object in the abstract, but ordinary context points towards the novel. A question requiring certainty should still be considered with the surrounding passage. If the next sentence says “Her cousin had asked to read the story”, the connection becomes much stronger.

During teaching, ask for two things: the proposed replacement and the clue that supports it. This prevents the replacement test from becoming a ritual in which the learner inserts a noun and assumes the work is finished.

Use grammar, meaning and context together

Grammar narrows the candidates. A plural form can suggest a group; an object form fits a different sentence position from a subject form. But grammar alone rarely supplies the complete answer to a passage question.

Meaning tests the action. In “The volunteers picked up the lanterns. They agreed to carry them upstairs”, the volunteers are the ones who can agree, while the lanterns are the things carried. The meaning of the action helps distinguish two plural candidates.

Context settles the local connection. In “The volunteers picked up the lanterns. They were lighter than expected”, the lanterns are the natural referent of “they”. The same nearby nouns produce a different connection because the second sentence changes the relevant property.

Avoid turning these observations into rigid shortcuts. “They” is not always plural: English can use singular “they” when referring to a person. And an unusual story can give actions to objects that would not perform them in an ordinary factual account. A talking lantern in a fantasy passage changes the relevant context.

The aim is to use the available evidence together. A good reader does not make one clue carry more certainty than it can support.

Distinguish identity from sentence role

A person can remain the same while moving from subject to object. “Ravi helped Ben. Ben thanked him.” Ravi is the helper in the first sentence and the person receiving thanks in the second. The form “him” does not make Ravi a new person.

Now compare: “Ravi helped Ben because he had finished his own task.” Which person had finished? Without more context, the sentence may be read in different ways. A child who selects Ravi because Ravi appears first is using a shortcut; a child who selects Ben because Ben appears nearest is using another shortcut. Neither shortcut resolves all cases.

A clearer version is: “Having finished his own task, Ravi helped Ben.” Another is: “Ravi helped Ben, who had already finished the written task but needed help carrying the model.” The writer can make the intended relationship more explicit.

For a learner, the practical lesson is to track two questions separately: who is this, and what role does this person have in the current action? Losing either can reverse the event.

This matters in answers. “Ben helped Ravi” uses the right names but assigns the roles incorrectly. An answer can therefore be wrong even though every person mentioned appears in the passage.

“I” and “you” move when the speaker changes

Dialogue requires a viewpoint check. “I” identifies the current speaker. “You” identifies the person or people being addressed. When the speaker changes, those references can change too.

Read this invented exchange:

“I have found your notebook,” said Hana to Marcus.
“Thank you. I was looking for it,” Marcus replied.
“You left it beside the window,” Hana added.

In the first line, “I” refers to Hana and “your” to Marcus. In the second, “I” refers to Marcus, “you” to Hana and “it” to the notebook. In the third, “you” again refers to Marcus, while “it” still refers to the notebook.

The notebook’s identity remains stable. The speaker-dependent words shift. A reader who carries the first meaning of “I” into every line will misread the conversation.

A small speaker map has three columns: who is speaking, who is addressed, and which object or event is discussed. For this exchange, the rows are Hana to Marcus about the notebook; Marcus to Hana about the notebook; Hana to Marcus about the notebook. The map need not contain grammatical labels to be useful.

When answering a question about dialogue, read the reporting clause as well as the spoken words. “Said Hana”, “Marcus replied” and “she called to the group” help establish viewpoint. Skipping them can remove the very information needed to interpret the pronouns.

A message can contain more than one viewpoint

Suppose a passage says: “Leah read the note aloud: ‘I will meet you at the gate,’ it said. The note was signed by her brother.” The “I” inside the note belongs to the brother, not to Leah merely because Leah is reading the words aloud.

The narrator, the person reading and the original writer can be different people. This is common enough in stories containing letters, messages, announcements or remembered conversations. The reader should identify whose words are being represented.

Now imagine a teacher telling a class, “Your parents have sent their replies.” “Your” addresses the pupils; “their” refers to the parents. The words are close together but do not identify the same group.

A reliable check is to ask: “Who could sign this sentence?” For direct speech, that is the speaker. For a quoted note, it is the note’s writer. This question is a teaching prompt rather than a universal linguistic rule, but it can expose a viewpoint mix-up.

Do not rewrite pronouns while copying a requested quotation unless the task permits that change. In an explanation, however, naming the person can make the answer clearer: “The brother meant that he would meet Leah at the gate.” Preserve the message’s participants even when changing its form.

“This” can point to a whole event or idea

Not every reference points neatly to a single noun. In “The team forgot to book the room. This forced them to rehearse outside”, “this” refers to the failure to book the room, not simply to the room.

The Cambridge English Grammar Today discussion of “it”, “this” and “that” in paragraphs explains reference across stretches of text. The important reading habit is to restore enough of the earlier idea for the later sentence to make sense.

Compare two possible answers to “What does ‘this’ refer to?” One says “the room”. The other says “the team’s failure to book the room”. The second preserves the event that caused the change of rehearsal location. The first names an object without explaining what happened to it.

Try another example: “Every group brought a different set of instructions. This made the first practice confusing.” The referent is the situation in which the groups had different instructions. It is not merely “every group” or “instructions” in isolation.

Whole-idea reference often needs a phrase containing an action: the bus arriving late, the label being missing, the pupils receiving different instructions. Do not assume that the expected answer must always be one noun because the referring word is short.

Read “this”, “that”, “these” and “those” with their local contrast

A passage may divide objects into groups and then use short expressions to keep the groups separate. “The red cards were invitations. The blue cards were reminders. These had to be delivered first.” Here “these” naturally points to the blue cards in the immediately preceding sentence. A wider context could confirm the priority.

Now compare: “The red cards were invitations and the blue cards were reminders. These two sets were kept in separate envelopes.” The fuller expression “these two sets” refers to both categories together. The reader must attend to the complete phrase, not just the first word.

“Those with damaged covers were placed aside” refers to members of an already established group that meet a condition. If the passage introduced books, the answer should preserve both the objects and the condition: the books with damaged covers.

Forgetting the condition can make the answer too broad. “All the books” would not be equivalent. Reference and quantity work together; the correct identity may be a restricted part of a larger group.

When several groups appear, label them briefly during practice: invitations, reminders; damaged books, usable books; registered visitors, other visitors. The label should track the distinction the writer made, not create a distinction the passage never stated.

“One”, “ones” and omitted words still need meaning

In “There were three paintbrushes on the table. Siti chose the narrowest one”, “one” stands for a paintbrush. The description narrows which member of the group is meant. Answering “the table” because it is nearby would fail both the meaning and the selection structure.

In “The old notices were removed, but the new ones remained”, “ones” means notices. The sentence contrasts old notices with new notices. The word does not refer to the people who removed them.

Sometimes a writer leaves repeated material unstated: “Kai wanted to join the afternoon group, and Mina did too.” Here “did too” carries the earlier action or state of wanting to join that group. A reader needs to recover the omitted meaning rather than interpret “did” as an unspecified new activity.

These examples extend beyond personal pronouns, but they belong to the same reading job: connect compact wording to the fuller meaning it depends on. A learner who understands only the first mention may lose the account when the writer begins using shorter forms.

In practice, ask the learner to expand the short expression into a full phrase. Then check whether the expansion preserves the contrast, group membership and action in the original sentence.

Sometimes “it” does not name an earlier object

“It was raining when the visitors arrived.” There is no earlier parcel, cabinet or lantern that must be supplied as the meaning of “it”. English uses “it” in structures about weather and in other constructions where it does not refer to an earlier named object.

“It is important to label the boxes” is another different structure from “The label fell off. It was wet.” In the latter example, “it” can refer to the label. In the former, searching backwards for a physical object called “it” would be the wrong task.

The British Council’s guide to dummy subjects gives the grammatical background. A primary learner does not need to memorise all the terminology to recognise that not every “it” is a replacement for a nearby noun.

This is an important limit on the replacement test. The test checks a proposed reference where there is one; it must not manufacture a referent for every occurrence of the word.

During a reference exercise, include one clear weather sentence among ordinary referential uses. Ask the learner to explain why it behaves differently. The objective is flexible reading, not a rule that forces every sentence into the same pattern.

Do not assume “they” always means several people

“A visitor has left their umbrella at the counter. They may collect it before the building closes.” Here the passage is discussing one visitor. “Their” and “they” continue that reference without identifying the visitor’s gender.

The important task is to read the actual group size from the context rather than infer it solely from the pronoun. In another passage, “the visitors” followed by “they” may genuinely refer to several people.

Similarly, a person’s name does not authorise the reader to invent information about that person. Use what the text supplies. Where a passage establishes a pronoun, follow the established reference; where it leaves identity unknown, do not fill the gap with a stereotype.

This point should not overwhelm a beginning learner. It is simply a safeguard against an overconfident shortcut. The overall method remains the same: identify candidates, read the sentence, check the context and preserve what is known.

Main practice passage: The lanterns for library evening

The passage, reference questions and answers below are original teaching material. Read it once for the event before examining individual expressions.

1. Mira took six paper lanterns out of a box and counted them. Two had bent frames, so she placed those beside a repair tray. The remaining four were ready to hang. Mira wanted to finish the damaged lanterns before the library evening began.

2. Mr Tan placed a small toolkit on the low table. He showed Mira how to fasten a loose loop. ‘I will fetch more tape,’ he said to her. ‘You can sort the unbroken frames while I am away.’ Mira nodded and put the toolkit beside the tray.

3. Joel arrived with a roll of string. He and Mira tested the four undamaged lanterns together. They lifted each one gently before tying a length of string to its loop. Joel held the final lantern above the table. It tilted to one side, although its frame was not bent.

4. Mira noticed that the string had slipped out of the loop. This explained the uneven position. She threaded it through again while Joel steadied the lantern. After another test, the lantern hung straight.

5. The librarian asked the two pupils to carry the finished lanterns to the reading area. They agreed and carried them in pairs. The librarian pointed to two hooks above a display. ‘These are for the larger lanterns,’ she explained. The smaller ones would hang nearer the window.

6. When Mr Tan returned, Mira showed him the repaired frames. ‘You were right to test them before hanging them,’ he said. Mira glanced at Joel. ‘We checked the strings as well,’ she replied. ‘That helped us find a problem which was not in the frame.’

Build the passage’s reference map

1. What does “them” refer to in the first sentence?
2. What does “those” refer to in paragraph 1?
3. Who is “I” in Mr Tan’s first spoken sentence?
4. Who is “you” in his next spoken sentence?
5. Who does “they” refer to in paragraph 3?
6. What does “one” stand for in “each one”?
7. What does “it” refer to in “It tilted to one side”?
8. What whole event does “This” refer to at the start of paragraph 4’s second sentence?
9. What does “it” refer to in “She threaded it through again”?
10. Who does “they” refer to in paragraph 5, and what does “them” refer to in the same sentence?
11. What does the librarian mean by “these”?
12. What are the “smaller ones”?
13. Who is included in Mira’s “we” in the final paragraph?
14. What activity does “that” refer to in Mira’s final spoken sentence?

Do not consult the key immediately. For any uncertain answer, write the full replacement and the clue supporting it. Where the reference includes a condition, include that condition in the replacement.

Reference map: Worked answers and reasons

1. The six paper lanterns. They are the objects Mira took from the box and counted. The box itself is not the plural object of the counting action.

2. The two lanterns with bent frames. “Those” selects the damaged pair, not all six lanterns. The restriction matters because the passage immediately distinguishes the other four.

3. Mr Tan. He is the speaker of “I will fetch more tape.” Mira hears the sentence but does not become its “I”.

4. Mira. Mr Tan is addressing her. The surrounding narration identifies the addressee before the instruction.

5. Joel and Mira. The previous sentence establishes the pair who tested the lanterns together. The next action continues their shared work.

6. A lantern from the four undamaged lanterns. “Each one” distributes the action across that group. It does not suddenly include the two damaged lanterns that were set aside.

7. The final lantern Joel was holding. The sentence describes the position of that particular lantern. “The table” is nearby, but the following reference to its frame confirms which object is under inspection.

8. The string slipping out of the loop. The referent is the event that explained the tilt, not merely the word “string”. Restoring the whole event produces a meaningful explanation.

9. The string. Threading through the loop is the action applied to the string. Joel steadies the lantern while Mira corrects the string’s position.

10. “They” means Mira and Joel; “them” means the finished lanterns. The pupils agree and carry; the lanterns are carried. Sentence roles and action meaning distinguish the two plural groups.

11. The two hooks above the display. The librarian points to those hooks before explaining their purpose. “These” does not refer to the lanterns simply because lanterns dominate the story.

12. The smaller lanterns. “Ones” recovers the earlier noun while “smaller” distinguishes the relevant subgroup.

13. Mira and Joel. The passage describes their joint testing. Mr Tan helped earlier, but he was away during the string check that Mira is discussing.

14. Checking the strings as well as the frames. The whole activity helped reveal a problem outside the frame. “That” does not merely name Joel or the repaired frames.

Use the map to understand the event, not just answer labels

Correctly naming referents is useful because it preserves what happened. Once the map is stable, ask an ordinary comprehension question: “Why did the final lantern tilt even though its frame was not bent?” The answer depends on keeping the lantern, frame, loop and string distinct.

A learner who treats every “it” as the lantern may read “She threaded it through again” as Mira threading the whole lantern through the loop. A learner who treats “this” as the frame may explain the tilt with damage the passage explicitly denies. The local reference error becomes a larger misunderstanding.

Another question might ask how Mira and Joel worked together. The answer draws on their different roles: Mira corrected the string while Joel steadied the lantern. Replacing both people with a vague “they fixed it” may be true at a broad level, but it loses the detail that demonstrates cooperation.

This is why reference practice should return to meaning. A worksheet that asks only “What does it refer to?” can become a matching game. Follow a few reference questions with a question about the event, reason or comparison that the references make understandable.

Ambiguity clinic: When the text does not settle the answer

Sentence A: “Lina told her sister that she should bring the folder.” Who should bring it? Without more context, “she” could refer to Lina or her sister. Do not mark one interpretation as certainly correct merely because it is the intended story in the adult’s mind.

Clearer version: “Lina asked her sister to bring the folder.” The requested action now belongs to the sister. Another intended meaning would need different wording: “Lina told her sister, ‘I should bring the folder.’”

Sentence B: “The trophy was placed beside the vase because it was valuable.” Both objects could be valuable. The reason for placement may also be unclear. A reference exercise should either supply context or openly ask the learner to diagnose the ambiguity.

Clearer version: “Because the trophy was valuable, the teacher placed it beside the vase on the supervised display table.” The repeated noun resolves the intended reason, although further context would explain why that location was suitable.

Sentence C: “The art group thanked the music group after they finished.” Which group finished, and what did it finish? The sentence leaves both identity and activity underspecified.

Clearer version: “After the music group finished its performance, the art group thanked the musicians.” The revision restores both missing connections.

Ambiguity is not a failure of the learner when the necessary evidence is genuinely absent. In teaching, recognising “the text does not decide between these readings” is valuable. In an actual task, read the surrounding passage and the exact question before concluding that a sentence is unresolved.

Why the nearest-noun shortcut breaks

Writers often place a referent close to the expression that refers to it. Nearness is therefore worth noticing. But “worth noticing” is different from “always decisive”.

“The teacher put the notebooks on the shelf after she checked them.” The nearest noun to “she” is “shelf”, but the teacher is the person doing the checking. “Them” refers to the notebooks, not the shelf. Meaning and grammar rule out the nearest item.

More difficult cases contain two candidates that both fit grammatically. “The pupils placed the posters beside the windows because they were too large for the boards.” The posters are too large for the boards; the windows are not the natural objects being compared for display. The wider action helps establish the connection.

However, if the sentence is genuinely ambiguous, do not use “meaning” as permission to invent whichever story seems more attractive. The proper method is to weigh the actual clues and keep uncertainty where they do not decide.

During correction, ask a learner who used proximity to explain why the alternative cannot fit. If neither candidate can be ruled out from the supplied text, repair the exercise rather than forcing a guessed answer.

Keep a changing group’s membership visible

“Eight pupils joined the activity. Three left for rehearsal. The others remained to pack the materials.” “The others” refers to the five pupils who did not leave. It is not a new group from elsewhere in the school.

“The pupils who had finished their forms joined the queue. They received collection slips.” The receiving group is restricted to the pupils who had finished their forms. Replacing it with “all pupils” removes the condition.

“Some of the volunteers carried boxes; the rest checked the labels.” The two expressions divide an established group by task. A later “they” may refer to one subgroup or the combined volunteers, depending on the sentence and context.

A useful practice map begins with the full group, then records who enters, leaves or changes task. Numbers can help when provided, but do not invent a count where the passage says only “some”. An accurate map may contain a named subgroup without an exact size.

This skill connects to the question-demand work in Guide 1. If a question asks what the remaining pupils did, the answer must not borrow an action performed only by the pupils who left.

Ownership words need the same care

In “Nora lent Elise her ruler”, the owner of the ruler can be unclear without context. The grammar permits more than one reading. “Nora lent her own ruler to Elise” makes Nora’s ownership explicit. “Nora returned Elise’s ruler to her” makes a different relationship explicit.

Words such as “his”, “her”, “their” and “its” can carry important distinctions about ownership, association or parts. In “The lantern lost its loop”, “its” connects the loop to the lantern. In “The pupils checked their instructions”, the instructions belong or apply to the pupils.

Do not confuse the owner with the person holding the object at the moment. A child can carry another person’s bag. The passage may require the reader to keep possession, ownership and responsibility separate.

For a writing exercise, give the learner an intentionally unclear sentence and ask for two clear versions with different owners. This shows that the ambiguity is real and that repeating a name can be a useful repair, not a sign of poor vocabulary.

Write answers that do not recreate the same confusion

A learner may correctly understand the passage and then write, “She gave it to her because she needed it.” If several people and objects are involved, the answer may be harder to interpret than the original question.

Use names or precise noun phrases at the points where they prevent confusion. “Mira passed the string to Joel so that he could test the last lantern” gives the reader a stable starting point. The final “he” is then easy to follow.

This does not mean removing every pronoun. Repeating every name in every clause can make an answer cumbersome. The goal is enough explicit naming to keep the meaning recoverable.

A simple answer check is to cover the passage and read only the question and answer. Could another reader tell who performed the action and which object was involved? If not, replace the most ambiguous pronoun with its full referent.

When the question asks what “this” refers to, consider whether the answer needs an event phrase. “The string slipping from the loop” is clearer than “the string” when the slipping is what explains the later sentence.

Independent practice: The museum labels

This new passage changes the objects, groups and message viewpoint. Complete it without the lantern reference map.

The school museum club prepared labels for an exhibition of household objects. Anika wrote descriptions for three old containers, while Wei checked the dates supplied by the donors. They planned to place the finished labels beside the correct objects.

Before the exhibition opened, a donor sent Wei a message: ‘I have found an earlier photograph of the blue container. It shows a different lid. Please let Anika know that my first description may be incomplete.’ Wei forwarded the message to her and added, ‘You may need to leave the lid’s date uncertain for now.’

Anika compared the new photograph with the first description. The two records did not agree about the lid. This did not prove that either record was entirely useless, but it meant that the label needed a qualification. She changed the final line to explain that the lid’s history remained uncertain.

Two labels were ready to print. The third needed another check, so Anika placed it in a separate folder. When the other club members arrived, they printed the finished ones. Wei reminded them not to print the label in the folder.

A visitor later asked about the blue container. The pupil on duty explained the uncertainty rather than inventing a date. They then showed the visitor the two records.

1. Who does the first paragraph’s “they” refer to?
2. Who is “I” in the donor’s message?
3. What does “it” refer to in “It shows a different lid”?
4. Who is “you” in Wei’s added sentence?
5. What whole situation does “This” refer to in the third paragraph?
6. What does “it” refer to when Anika places something in a folder?
7. What does “the finished ones” mean?
8. Who does “them” refer to in Wei’s reminder?
9. Who does “they” refer to in the final sentence, and how many people does that expression identify here?
10. Why would “all the labels” be an inaccurate replacement for “the finished ones”?

Independent-practice key

1. Anika and Wei. Their different preparatory tasks belong to a shared exhibition plan.

2. The donor who wrote the message. Wei receives and forwards it; he does not become the original speaker inside the quotation.

3. The earlier photograph. A photograph can show the lid. The message’s description of what the donor found supplies the connection.

4. Anika. Wei adds the instruction while forwarding the donor’s message to her.

5. The disagreement between the two records about the lid. The referent is the discrepancy, not simply the container or the photograph alone.

6. The third label, which needed another check. The answer must preserve which label was withheld.

7. The two labels that were ready to print. “Ones” replaces labels, and “finished” restricts the group.

8. The other club members who were printing. Wei is giving them the reminder not to print the uncertain label.

9. The pupil on duty: one person. The passage uses singular “they” to continue that reference without stating the pupil’s gender.

10. One label was still awaiting a check. “All the labels” would include the unfinished one and remove the distinction on which the printing instruction depends.

After checking, explain one answer using grammar, one using the action’s meaning and one using viewpoint. This reveals whether you used a flexible method or merely remembered a list of pronoun forms.

Diagnose the error before choosing more practice

If the learner chooses the nearest noun even when the action does not fit, practise the replacement test with very short sentences. If the learner understands narration but loses “I” and “you”, practise two-speaker exchanges before returning to letters inside stories.

If “this” always receives a one-word answer, use examples that clearly refer to an event. Ask what happened, then place that event phrase into the next sentence. If the learner turns “the remaining pupils” into all pupils, practise groups and conditions rather than another pronoun table.

If the learner gives two plausible answers to a genuinely ambiguous sentence, that may be accurate reading rather than an error. Check the exercise itself. A good teaching question should not secretly rely on the author’s unstated intention.

If the learner can explain the reference aloud but writes an unclear answer, practise answer wording. The reading decision may already be sound. Repeating the whole comprehension task would not target the actual problem.

Teach the connection, then withdraw the scaffold

Model one reference decision openly: identify possible referents, test the action and consult the relevant context. Keep the explanation short enough that the learner can reproduce the process without memorising your wording.

Then ask the learner to try a neighbouring example. A useful prompt is “Which person could be doing that action here?” A less useful prompt is “It is Mira, isn’t it?” The second supplies the answer and makes it difficult to tell whether the learner made the connection independently.

Gradually remove the map. First allow names in the margin, then only a brief mark beside uncertain references, then a new passage without written assistance. This is a suggested support sequence, not a fixed programme with a guaranteed effect.

Record help honestly. “Correct after speaker identified” is different from “correct independently”. Both can represent useful work, but they answer different questions about what the learner can currently do alone.

Return later with a changed passage. Replace the lanterns with records or sports equipment; change the speaker order; include one whole-event reference and one restricted group. The point is to check the reading decision rather than recognition of familiar names.

Keep the tone precise and respectful. “You linked the action to the wrong group” gives a repair target. “You never understand anything” does not. Language learning should increase a child’s control without making a local mistake into a judgment of the child.

Transfer the skill into composition and situational writing

Reference tracking becomes an editing tool when the learner writes. After drafting a paragraph, circle expressions such as “he”, “she”, “it”, “they”, “this” and “that”. For each, ask whether a reader can recover the intended connection without hearing the writer’s explanation.

Pay particular attention when a second person enters, when two similar objects appear, when dialogue changes speaker or when an entire event is summarised by “this”. These are useful inspection points, not proof that every such sentence is wrong.

Repair selectively. “This caused a problem” might become “The missing label caused a problem” or “The two groups receiving different instructions caused confusion”, depending on the intended meaning. A precise noun phrase can restore the connection without expanding the whole paragraph.

In a functional message, unclear reference can misdirect action. “Put it there before she arrives” is poor guidance when the reader does not know which object, place or person is meant. The situational-writing guide develops this reader-action check.

Do not mistake repeated nouns for automatic weakness. Elegant variation is less important than a message whose people, objects and responsibilities remain clear.

The reader’s reference check

What could this expression refer to? Which candidate fits the grammar and action? Whose viewpoint is active? Does the surrounding passage settle it? Have I restored the whole idea or only part of it?

When the reference is clear, continue reading. When it is uncertain, look for the missing clue. When the passage genuinely leaves two readings open, do not convert a guess into certainty.

Small words carry the connections between larger pieces of meaning. Following those connections lets the reader keep the people, objects and ideas intact as the writer moves on.

Continue through the series

Return to Guide 1: Read the Question Before You Build the Answer when the answer targets the wrong demand. Continue with Guide 3: Read Connectors Without Losing the Logic when the people are clear but their reasons, contrasts or conditions are not. Apply both skills in Guide 4: Situational Writing That Gives the Reader Every Detail Needed to Act.

Return to the PSLE Learning Guide · English Learning Hub

Sources and teaching boundary

Grammar references: British Council, Personal pronouns and “It” and “there” as dummy subjects; Cambridge English Grammar Today, “It”, “this” and “that” in paragraphs. These support the grammatical background; the passages, questions, maps and suggested teaching sequence are original eduKate material.

Assessment context: SEAB’s examination-year information is the authority for the applicable PSLE format. Reference links checked 5 September 2026. This article does not claim that its individual exercises are official item types, reproduce an official marking scheme or establish an independently tested improvement in examination results.