Advanced reference and substitution

Long explanations become difficult when the same noun or action is repeated in every sentence. Substitution helps a text flow, but each substitute needs a clear target. If a reader could attach it to two different ideas, repeat the noun instead.

The former and the latter: use only with a clear pair

When you have named two things, the former refers to the first and the latter to the second:

The review considered cost and reliability. The former affected the budget; the latter determined whether the system was usable.

This is concise when there are exactly two obvious items. If you have introduced three options, or if the pair is several sentences back, former and latter make the reader search. Repeat the names or use first / second in a numbered list.

Such and those

Such can point to a type or quality just mentioned:

The trial revealed a serious reporting gap. Such a gap can distort later comparisons.

Before a singular count noun, use such a + noun. Such evidence is uncountable; such problems is plural. Do not confuse such with so: such a complex issue, but so complex an issue in a more formal pattern.

Those can replace a plural count noun when the noun is understood, often followed by a phrase that identifies the intended group:

The newer measurements were more stable than those collected during the pilot.

Those means measurements; the phrase collected during the pilot identifies which ones. This structure avoids repeating the noun but keeps the comparison parallel.

Do so replaces an action

Use do so to refer back to a verb phrase or action:

The agency said it would publish the data and did so the following week.

Do so means “publish the data”. It does not replace a noun:

Incorrect: The policy changed the timetable and the team did so.
Better: The policy changed the timetable and the team did the same.

Use do it when it refers to a specific task or object already mentioned: Could you send the form? I’ll do it now. Do so is more formal and usually points to an action.

Common mistakes

• The latters were rejected. Former and latter do not take plural -s: the latter.
• The first proposal was cheaper than those of the second. Compare like with like: cheaper than that of the second proposal or cheaper than the second proposal.
• The report revised the table and did it again. Use did so if the report repeated the action; use did it again if it repeated a specific task.
• Do not use the former / latter when there are several possible antecedents.

Quick check

What does each highlighted substitute replace?

1. Two controls were considered: time and temperature. The latter proved harder to regulate.
2. Several laboratories repeated the procedure; those using older equipment reported more variation.
3. The agency promised to publish the full data and did so.

Answers: temperature; laboratories; publish the full data. If you cannot answer immediately, the reference needs to be made clearer.

Select a substitute by asking what is repeated

English has different substitute forms for a repeated noun, verb phrase or idea. Choosing the wrong kind can make the sentence sound odd or change its meaning.

One/ones replaces a count noun, often with a modifier that narrows the reference. It/them refers to the specific thing already identified. Compare I need a pen; do you have one? (any pen) with I found the pen; do you want it? (that particular pen). Do not use one to replace an uncountable noun: use some or repeat the noun (some information, not normally an information/one information).

Do so, do it and do the same

Do so usually substitutes for a verb phrase and sounds relatively formal:

The researchers promised to publish the data and did so.

Do it normally refers to a task or action treated as a thing:

The final check is tedious, but someone must do it.

Do the same highlights that the action is repeated by another person or group:

One team adopted the protocol, and the second team did the same.

Do not use these forms mechanically. If the earlier action is several clauses away, repeat a short verb phrase to keep the reference clear.

Such, so and demonstrative reference

Such can summarize a type or quality: The trial exposed a reporting gap. Such gaps can distort comparisons. So can substitute for a proposition after verbs such as think, believe, hope, expect in suitable contexts: Will the archive reopen? I hope so. It does not replace a noun phrase. Those can substitute for a plural noun phrase and take a modifier: those recorded during the pilot means the records recorded during the pilot.

The former / the latter are useful only when exactly two items are prominent and their order is clear. For more than two items, a distant pair or an important instruction, repeat the noun or use the first/the second. The reader should not have to scroll mentally back through a paragraph to identify the reference.

Guided practice

1. Replace the repeated noun: The first draft is concise; the second draft is more persuasive.
2. Replace the repeated action: The agency said it would release the figures and released them on Monday.
3. Choose one or it: I found a suitable reference. Would you like to use ___?
4. Clarify this sentence: The policy altered the schedule, and the team did so too. What should replace do so if the team also altered the schedule?

Answers and reasoning

1. The first draft is concise; the second one is more persuasive.
2. The agency said it would release the figures and did so on Monday.
3. it, if the specific reference is offered. One would mean another suitable reference.
4. The policy altered the schedule, and the team did so too is actually grammatical because do so replaces altered the schedule. If the intended meaning is that the team followed the policy, write the team followed suit or name the action directly.

Reference is a reader’s memory task

A substitute saves words only when the reader can retrieve its meaning quickly. If a pronoun has several possible antecedents, repeating the noun is not clumsy; it is clearer. Compare:

The panel asked the agency to revise the figures after its review.

Whose review: the panel’s or the agency’s? The pronoun its has two plausible antecedents. Write after the panel’s review or after the agency’s review. A short repeated noun phrase is preferable to a sentence that forces the reader to guess.

Demonstratives such as this, that, these and those can refer to earlier ideas, but add a noun when the idea is complex:

The archive was closed for six weeks. This closure delayed the analysis.

Here this closure identifies exactly what is being referred to. Without the noun, This delayed the analysis is grammatical but depends more heavily on the previous sentence.

Match the substitute to the number and type of noun

Use one/ones for countable nouns and some or a repeated noun for uncountable meanings:

We need a later version. Do you have one?
We need additional evidence. Do you have any?

Use that/those in comparisons when you are replacing a noun phrase:

the accuracy of the new sensors compared with that of the original model
the findings from this trial compared with those from the pilot

The singular/plural form must match the noun being replaced, not the nearest noun in the sentence. For a repeated verb phrase, use do so; for a repeated task treated as a thing, do it is often more natural. When the substitute makes the intended action uncertain, repeat the verb phrase.

Further reading

• Cambridge Dictionary: noun phrases
• Cambridge Dictionary: so and not with expect, hope and think