ClearTips: Edit yourself

Ambiguous pronouns

If two or three nouns vie for a pronoun, the reference is almost certain to be ambiguous. The general solutions are to repeat the noun rather than use a pronoun or to eliminate the pretenders by changing their number.

The main problem that people run into with pronouns arises from their not being tied to a noun.
CHANGE TO
The main problem that people run into with pronouns arises from a pronoun's not being tied to a noun.
 
OR
The main problem that a writer has with pronouns arises from their not being tied to a noun.

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