In grammar, an antecedent is an expression that gives its meaning to a proform. A proform takes its meaning from its antecedent; e.g., "John arrived late because traffic held him up." The pronoun him refers to and takes its meaning from John, so John is the antecedent of him.

What is an example of an antecedent?

An antecedent is a part of a sentence that is later replaced by a pronoun. An example of an antecedent is the word “John” in the sentence: “John loves his dog.” Antecedent means a person who was born before you in your family. An example of an antecedent is your grandmother.

What does antecedent mean and examples?

An antecedent is a phrase, clause, or word that is later referred back to by an earlier word, noun, or phrase. ... If the antecedent is a group, or plural, the antecedent must also be plural. For Example: The dog at the shelter is loud and energetic, but we still really like him.