syntax.unclear-antecedent
What it flags
Pronouns whose antecedent is not obvious in the immediate context. Ambiguous pronominal reference is one of the costliest comprehension breaks for readers with attentional difficulties: each ambiguity forces a conscious return-and-search.
References. Strunk & White; FALC (“prefer name repetition over pronouns”); Graesser et al. Coh-Metrix (referential cohesion).
At a glance
| Category | syntax |
| Default severity | info |
| Default weight | 2 |
| Languages | EN · FR (separate pronoun lists) |
| Source | src/rules/unclear_antecedent.rs |
Detection (v0.1 heuristic)
Exact detection requires anaphora resolution (advanced NLP). v0.1 catches the two most frequent patterns:
- Bare demonstrative pronouns at sentence start (
This/That/These/Those,Ceci/Cela/Ce) not followed by a noun. - Personal pronouns at paragraph start (no antecedent in the preceding context).
Severity is info because the heuristic is approximate — the noise level warrants a soft signal.
Parameters
| Key | Type | Default |
|---|---|---|
check_demonstratives | bool | true |
check_paragraph_start_pronouns | bool | true |
Pronoun lists
- 🇫🇷 ce, cela, ceci, ça, celui-ci, celle-ci, il, elle, ils, elles
- 🇬🇧 this, that, these, those, it, they, them
Example
Les performances étaient médiocres avec le cache LRU. Cela a motivé le changement.
Cela refers to the performance? The cache? Ambiguous.
Suppression
References
See References for the full bibliography.