Grade 6 Vague Pronouns Worksheets 2024 - Free Printable

Explanation:
We need to identify which sentence in each pair contains a vague pronoun reference.

A *vague pronoun reference* happens when a pronoun (like *they*, *it*, *she*, *he*, *them*, etc.) could refer to more than one possible noun, or it’s unclear what the pronoun is referring to — especially when the antecedent (the noun the pronoun replaces) is ambiguous or missing.

Let’s go through each pair:

1.
- “Despite the thorns, they insisted on buying roses.”
→ Who are *they*? Could be people, but no clear subject named before. Unclear.
- “Despite the thorns, the customer insisted on buying roses.”
→ Clear subject: *the customer*. No pronoun ambiguity.
✔ First sentence has vague pronoun (*they*).

2.
- “When Rachel told Jane the story, Jane started to cry.”
→ Clear: *Jane* cried.
- “When Rachel told Jane the story, she started to cry.”
→ *She* could be Rachel or Jane — ambiguous!
✔ Second sentence has vague pronoun (*she*).

3.
- “When the game was over it was late.”
→ *It* = time? But “the game” isn’t time — vague. Usually we say “it was late” after “the game ended”, but here “it” doesn’t clearly refer to anything.
- “When the game was over, the hour was late.”
→ Clear: *the hour* = time. Better phrasing.
✔ First sentence has vague pronoun (*it* — unclear antecedent).

4.
- “Although the box fell on the floor, it was not damaged.”
→ *It* could be *the box* (most likely), but technically *it* might refer to *the floor* — though that’s unlikely. Still, some style guides consider this vague because *it* could be ambiguous (though in practice, we assume *box*).
- “Although the box fell on the floor, the box was not damaged.”
→ Explicit — no pronoun.
But standard grammar teaching says: if the pronoun could reasonably refer to more than one noun, it's vague. Here, *it* most likely means *box*, and *floor* being “not damaged” is odd, so many would say this is acceptable. However, in school exercises like this, they often mark the first version as vague to encourage clarity. Let’s hold that thought and compare with others.

5.
- “In fourth grade, they learned algebra.”
→ *They* — who? No subject named. Vague.
- “In fourth grade, the students learned algebra.”
→ Clear.
✔ First sentence has vague pronoun (*they*).

6.
- “When Jim saw Chuck, Jim ran away.”
→ Clear: *Jim* ran.
- “When Jim saw Chuck, he ran away.”
→ *He* could be Jim or Chuck — ambiguous!
✔ Second sentence has vague pronoun (*he*).

7.
- “My house has an old roof and an old furnace; it needs to be replaced.”
→ *It* — does *it* mean the house, roof, or furnace? Since two items listed, unclear which needs replacing. Vague.
- “My house had both an old roof and an old furnace that need to be replaced.”
→ *that* refers to *roof and furnace* (plural), and verb *need* matches — clearer.
✔ First sentence has vague pronoun (*it*).

Now let’s double-check #4:
“Although the box fell on the floor, it was not damaged.”
Most grammar resources (e.g., Purdue OWL) list this as a classic example of vague pronoun reference — because *it* could theoretically refer to either *box* or *floor*, even if context makes *box* more likely. In standardized tests and worksheets like this, this is usually marked as vague.

So all pairs except maybe #3 and #4 are clear. Let’s confirm #3 again:

3.
- “When the game was over it was late.”
→ No comma, and *it* has no clear antecedent. “The game” is not “late”; time is. So *it* is vague.
Yes — this is vague.

Thus, the sentences with vague pronoun references are:
1. First
2. Second
3. First
4. First
5. First
6. Second
7. First

So we mark V next to those.

Final list of answers (which sentence in each pair gets the V):
1. ✔️ first
2. ✔️ second
3. ✔️ first
4. ✔️ first
5. ✔️ first
6. ✔️ second
7. ✔️ first

Final Answer:
1. V
2. V
3. V
4. V
5. V
6. V
7. V