20 Examples of Anaphora (in grammar)

A anaphora, in grammar, is the use of a grammatical element to refer to an expression that has already appeared before in the discourse, called antecedent. For example:

• The director said that the call. The pronoun the refers to the previous director.
• Mariana doesn't know anything. she she was not there that day. The pronoun she refers to the previous mariana.

Careful: We must not confuse anaphora as a grammatical resource with the anaphora as a figure of speech, which consists of the repetition of one or more words at the beginning of a verse or a statement to produce a certain expressive or aesthetic effect. For example: the haven of air / low echo branch. // the haven of water / low frond of stars (Federico García Lorca, fragment of "Variación").

Anaphoric terms have the function of avoiding the permanent repetition of words in a speech. For example: When you see your brother, sayyou I want to talkyou. The pronoun you refers to the antecedent brother. The same sentence without the anaphoras would be redundant: *

When you see your brother, tell your brother that I want to talk to your brother.

Anaphora is one of the most used procedures of textual cohesion, that is, the forms that we choose so that a discourse can be perceived as a unit. Anaphoric relationships can occur within the same sentence or between different sentences. For example:

• The young man changed their habits from one day to the next.
• The young man changed from one day to the next. Their habits were never the same again.

Remember: The anaphora differs from the cataphor, which is the use of a term in place of another that has not yet been mentioned. For example: Listenit to your father.

• It can help you: cohesive resources

types of anaphora

According to the criteria taken into account, there are different types of anaphoras.

If we take into account the grammatical category of the referential element, there are:

• pronominal anaphoras. They are those in which the referential element is a pronoun. For example: The boy asked that it they will help.
• adverbial anaphoras They are those in which the referential element is a adverb. For example: We will go to your house over there we will be comfortable
• Lexical anaphoras. They are those in which the referential element is not an adverb or a pronoun, but a reformulation of the content, generally through a noun phrase. For example: Martín and Josefina behaved very well; these children they are very polite.

If we take into account the referent to which the linked expressions refer, there are:

• Reference or coreferential anaphoras. They are those in which the elements or entities that are linked refer to the same referent of reality. For example: I saw Pedro down the street, but he he didn't see me. In this sentence, Pedro and he They refer to the same person, so they are coreferential elements.
• Anaphoras of meaning. They are those in which the elements or entities that are linked belong to the same class, but do not have the same referent. For example: Martin had a dog and now he adopted other. In this sentence, dog and other They have the same meaning, but they do not refer exactly to the same animal.
• Elliptical or zero anaphoras. They are those in which the anaphoric relationship is established between an element present in the discourse and an absent element, either by an identity in the reference or in the sense. For example: Your cousin called, he left you greetings.In this sentence, the one who left greetings is the tacit subject your cousin, which is omitted in the second proposition.

Examples of grammatical anaphora

In the following examples, they are marked on bold font the anaphoras and underlined the terms to which they refer.

1. Juan she forgot her speech. It we noticed right away.
2. I missed my portfolio. And now how the will we find?
3. The garden it's my hobby, it's which allows me to relax.
4. I'm in my sister's house and i will sleep here.
5. I have no more secrets, yacht the I counted all.
6. the dog is in the vet; the specialist he said that he will recover soon.
7. the protagonist dies, just like me it they had advanced.
8. Do you like it my shirt? I the gave Matías
9. Juan came with his sister.
10. Children they miss him, they They can't go that long without it.
11. The boss he is responsible for what happens here, he More than anyone.
12. We went to Supermarket because over there They sell what we need.
13. My father and I we will help you us we are with you.
14. Said what would go, but I do not know it I believed.
15. When are we going to the beach I feel good, there all is peace
16. His father and his mother they are patient, they they never yell.
17. His cat, the fact that it has black spots, it is lost.
18. the young she said no one the listened
19. Gimena, Ramiro, Pedro and Martina they did not come to school, they are all sick.
20. Blue she is my friend, she always accompanies me
21. The movie It's too long, isn't it? the would see again
22. i finished reading the bookthat you gave me.
23. Players They are satisfied, they they did their best.
24. Gabriela and Victory they are teachers; this teaches mathematics, that teaches English.
25. Director did not come to the meeting and he Who is the summoned.
26. the doctor he told me to go seeit only if I felt bad.
27. Romina and Thomas they are brothers; she she is younger than he.
28. your aunt and me we will go shopping we we will take care of everything.
29. I'm on vacation in the mountain and i just want to stay here.
30. Today we will bake a cake at my place. For it, we must buy all the ingredients this afternoon.

Follow with:

• Adequacy, coherence and cohesion
• sentences without coherence