How to use pronouns properly in an OET letter?
Pronouns are a small set of words used instead of a noun, an essential category of nouns. We can use them to replace other nouns in a sentence. But sometimes, it can be hard to know when to use them.
E.g.: I, me, he, she, herself, you, it, that, they, each, few, many, who, whoever, whose, someone, everybody, etc.
There are three types of pronouns:
- Subject pronoun: He
- Object pronoun: Him
- Possessive pronoun: His
Pronouns are of many kinds; it will be helpful when you revise different pronouns and how to use them when turning notes into sentences. It’s essential to pay close attention to this when using pronouns to avoid confusing the reader. As a grammar device, you can use pronouns to avoid repetition and add clarity. But when misused, they can create the opposite effect.
While writing an OET letter, the correct use of pronouns is one of the students’ significant problems. Let us see how to use the correct pronouns in OET letter writing. Pronoun confusion is common when a sentence contains two or more antecedents of the same gender. To fix a pronoun reference error, you will often have to revise the sentence, replacing the pronoun with a precise, specific noun.
Consider the example from an OET case notes:
- Mrs Jill presented with her daughter, who is concerned she may have bronchitis.
There are two women in the sentence: Mrs Jill and her daughter. Using the female pronoun, ‘she’, is therefore confusing. Is the daughter concerned she has bronchitis, or does her mother has bronchitis?. It’s essential to pay close attention to this when using pronouns to avoid confusing the reader. As a grammar device, you can use pronouns to avoid repetition and add clarity. But incorrect usage, in the example above, can create the opposite effect. In the case above, replacing the pronoun with a noun might make the sentence clearer to the reader.
- Mrs Jill presented with her daughter who is concerned her mother may have bronchitis. (Right)
Few more examples:
- Sarah was rude to her dad as he was not complying doctor’s order. (Wrong)
- Sarah was rude to her dad as her father was not complying doctor’s order. (right)
- John and his dad were tensed about his health condition. (Wrong)
- John and his dad were tensed about John’s health condition. (Right)
To get a clear idea of using pronouns in OET letters, you need to take sample OET case notes and try changing those into sentences. It is essential to select relevant data from these OET case notes as you try transforming them.
The most common relative pronoun used is who is used in OET writing, as you give more information about the patient. You can use a relative clause that can either come in the middle or end a sentence. Using a relative clause is a convenient way of adding details to a sentence, and it suits the professional style of writing an OET letter. If you used at least one or two relative clauses in your OET letter, it would impress the assessors.
Examples:
- I am writing to refer Mrs Alice, who presented with symptoms of a stroke.
- Mr James, who is a chain smoker, has asthma.
- The surgery, which was successful, was carried out under general anaesthetic.
Gender is an essential aspect of the English language, understanding how to use gender properly in English is vital to both the clarity and accuracy of writing and speaking. While writing a referral letter, it is crucial to check gender pronoun (her/he) is correct. This type of mistake is easily noticeable in proofreading. It can lead to confusion for the reader. So always be sure that your gender pronoun suits the gender of the patient or subject of your sentence.
The grammar session improves your knowledge level, and the chance of succeeding in OET is significantly higher. Tiju’s Academy conducts grammar challenges every day, and if you want to participate in that, please go to the,
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