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Grammar 42 - Avoiding Repetition - Substitution
"Her father was happy that she got good grades and so was her mother" - This sentence avoids repetition of the phrase 'happy that she got good grades'.

Grammar 42 - Avoiding Repetition - Substitution

In the previous High English grammar quiz we looked at sentences in which certain words or phrases are repeated and whether those repetitions were acceptable or not acceptable. If not acceptable, we found ways of avoiding repetitions. In this quiz we look at using substitutions of words to avoid repetitions.

Take a look at these sentences:

‘ANAMIKA went to the TOY STORE with her mother. SHE found IT full of dolls.’

Here the words in capitals in the first sentence are replaced by those in capitals in the second sentence.

Pronouns, such as SHE and IT, help to link two sentences, avoiding repetition. Note in this sentence there are two persons, Anamika and her mother, and we have used the pronoun for the first person (Anamika). It is important to note the pronouns used are in the right context and for the right persons, places or things. For instance, in the example above we find that ‘Anamika’ and ‘mother’ are referred to in the first sentence and in the second sentence ‘she’ refers only to Anamika and not mother.

We can also make substitutions by using words such as 'former' and 'latter', which are adjectives. Look at this example:

‘The BCCI President and the IPL Commissioner were the distinguished guests at the cricket tournament. The FORMER gave away the prize to the winning captain and the LATTER gave away the prize to the man of the match.’

Here the words in capitals in the second sentence replace the personalities mentioned first and second respectively in the first sentence.

It is to be noted that avoiding repetitions is more useful in written English than in spoken English. In spoken English it is imperative that communication is understood and hence repetition may be necessary to ensure clarity. However, in written English, the reader can refer to the sentences if in doubt and clarify.

Using substitutions of words to avoid repetitions helps in making your communication more attractive. Read the small passage given below and then take the quiz that follows and learn to avoid repetitions with substitutions. Note that the first six questions refer to the passage.



Passage taken from A J Cronin's 'The Two Gentlemen of Verona.'


"As we drove through the foothills of the Alps two small boys stopped us on the outskirts of Verona. They were selling wild strawberries.

“Don’t buy,” warned Luigi, our cautious driver. “You will get fruit much better in Verona. Besides, these boys….” He shrugged his shoulders to convey his disapproval of their shabby appearance.

One boy had on a worn jersey and cut-off khaki pants; the other a shortened army tunic gathered in loose folds about his skinny frame. Yet, gazing at the two little figures, with their brown skins, tangled hair and dark earnest eyes, we felt ourselves strangely attracted. My companion spoke to the boys, discovered that they were brothers. Nicola, the elder, was 13; Jacopo, who barely came up to the door handle of the car, was nearly 12. We bought their biggest basket, then set off toward town.

Next morning, coming out of our hotel, we saw our friends bent over shoeshine boxes beside the fountain in the public square, doing a brisk business."
1.
In the first sentence, who or what does 'they' refer to?
Two boys selling strawberries.
The strawberries.
The people driving through.
The foothills.
The substitution 'they' is for the two boys who stopped the people driving
2.
In the second paragraph, what is the substitution used for Luigi?
Driver
He
His
All of the above are correct.
The pronouns 'he' and 'his' are used in the second paragraph in place of Luigi, as is the noun 'driver'
3.
In the second paragraph 'their' refers to what or who?
Luigi's shoulders.
The two boys.
The people driving through.
The strawberries.
Although 'their' can be used for people and things, the context clearly indicates that the driver was referring to the boys who stopped them while driving through
4.
In the third paragraph 'their' and 'they' refer to who or what?
The strawberries.
The people in the car.
The two boys.
The baskets.
Clearly, the speaker is referring to the boys, giving a description of their appearance and the fact that they are brothers
5.
In the third paragraph the speaker and the people driving through are substituted by which words?
'One' and 'other'
'His' and 'their'
'Little' and 'figures'
'We' and 'my companion'
'We' and 'my' are the pronouns used by the speaker to describe people driving through. The words in the other options refer to the boys
6.
In the last paragraph 'our' and 'friends' refer to who?
'Our' refers to the people driving through and 'friends' refer to the two boys.
'Friends' refers to the people driving through and 'our' refer to the two boys.
'Our' and 'friends' refer to people driving through.
'Our' and 'friends' refer to the two boys.
The context of the passage and paragraph clearly points to the people driving through coming out of the hotel as described by the speaker, and the friends refer to the two boys who were previously selling strawberries and are now shining shoes
7.
Choose the sentence that uses 'former' as a substitution to avoid repetition.
Manmohan Singh, who was the finance minister in 1991, is now remembered as the father of liberalisation along with former PM Narasimha Rao.
Aamir Khan is the new number one movie star. He replaces the former number one, Salman Khan.
I've seen Aamir Khan's movies 'Tare Zameen Par' and 'Lagan.' I find the former a more intriguing movie than the latter.
I had invited my friends to a party. I held it in my former barn now refurbished into a modern house.
Remember that to use 'former' as substitution we need to speak about two things, places or names. Only then can we use 'former' to refer to the first named in subsequent descriptions. In the other options 'former' is used as an adjective, in the sense that 'it was once'
8.
Choose the sentence that does NOT use 'latter' as substitution to avoid repetition.
I've seen Aamir Khan's movies 'Tare Zameen Par' and 'Lagan.' I find the former a more moving movie than the latter.
The latter part of the century is devoted to swift developments in technology.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are outstanding batsmen. However, the coach finds the latter to be inconsistent.
The cheetah and the gazelle are swift runners. The former outruns the latter.
Here, 'latter' is used as an adjective referring to the later part of the century. In the other options 'latter' is used as substitution to avoid repeating the second named subject
9.
Choose the sentence that uses 'respectively' as a substitution to avoid repetition.
Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi are aged above 60 respectively.
Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi are Prime Ministers of India and they are men respectively.
Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi are Prime Ministers of India respectively.
Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi are the 14th and 15th Prime Ministers of India respectively.
The sentence sets the order in the first part and in the second part it makes it clear that Manmohan Singh is the 14th Prime Minister of India and Narendra Modi, the 15th by the use of 'respectively.' In the other options the use of 'respectively' is not adding any additional information and in fact, we can see that if we remove the word there is no change in the meaning
10.
Choose the sentence that uses a substitution to avoid repetition.
The towel in the hotel room was soiled. I asked for a new one.
Unorthodox cricket shots are being used of late. Such shots help to keep interest in the game alive.
His father was very happy that he obtained good grades. So was his mother.
All of the above are correct.
Note that we have used different words to avoid repetition. In option 1 'one' is used in place of 'towel.' In option 2 'such' is used in place of 'unorthodox cricket.' In option 3 'so' is used in place of 'happy that he obtained good grades'
Author:  V T Narendra

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