In each of the following sentences, the second highlighted element forms a cohesive tie with the first. A pro-form or other expression is used to to replace a word, phrase or clause used earlier in the text, thus avoiding repetition.
Group A
- Anne walked in and sat down. She picked up a newspaper.
- John sipped his coffee.
- John suggested a publicity campaign. The idea obviously had advantages but....
Group B
- By 1933 the family was forced to live in the poorest section of town, along with countless others who were similarly affected.
- John sipped his coffee. I did so too.
- Would you like an icecream? / Yes, I’d love one.
However, there is a difference between them. The underlined items in Group A are reference items : the
referring word/phrase is identical to the one it replaces. In
these contexts She is Anne, the publicity campaign is the idea - and so on. The reference item could be taken out and replaced with the original : John sipped John's coffee / Anne picked up a newspaper.
Those in Group B, on the other hand, are substitution devices. The
substituting item replaces not the the exact item used elsewhere but indicates an object, action, ideaetc
that is similar in concept. Eg : John
sipped his coffee. I did so too.
This would normally not be taken to mean that I sipped John’s coffee,
but that I sipped my own.
- Do you like that blue coat? /No but I like that red one, I really do.
- I'd love a chocolate one.
- ...along with countless others
For a fuller account of different types of reference, see Reference
Recommended Reading
Halliday and Hasan, Cohesion in English, Pearson
