In formal writing, pronoun choices carry significant weight. A vague pronoun reference, an inappropriate personal pronoun, or a poorly constructed sentence with 'it' or 'this' can undermine the clarity and professionalism of a document. At the same time, formal writing in English has evolved — singular they is now standard, and the impersonal 'it' construction is central to academic style. Understanding how pronouns function in formal written English will improve the quality of your own professional writing and equip you to support learners who are working towards formal writing tasks.
Before you start — think honestly about your own teaching and experience.
Look at the examples. Answer each question before reading the explanation — this is how your students will learn too.
More formal: 'It has been argued that regular feedback significantly improves teaching practice.'
What changes as the sentences become more formal? What happens to 'I'? What takes its place? What does 'it' refer to in the final sentence?
As register becomes more formal, personal pronouns — especially 'I' — tend to disappear. In their place comes the dummy subject 'it', which allows the writer to make statements that sound authoritative and impersonal. 'It is important' presents the importance as an objective fact, not a personal opinion. 'It has been argued' removes the specific arguer and focuses on the argument itself. 'It is widely accepted that...' 'It is essential that...' 'It should be noted that...' — all of these are standard academic and formal writing patterns. The 'it' in these sentences is not a pronoun with an antecedent: it is a grammatical placeholder (a dummy subject). Learners who write 'I think that it is important' in a formal document can be guided towards these impersonal structures instead.
All three sentences say the same thing. But the cleft sentences emphasise different elements. Which element is being emphasised in each cleft sentence? Why might a writer choose a cleft sentence in formal writing?
Cleft sentences split a single piece of information into two clauses to create emphasis. 'It was the teacher who...' emphasises 'the teacher' — not the system, not the resources, but the teacher specifically. 'What made the difference was...' emphasises the result of the dedication — the what is the subject. Cleft sentences are used in formal and academic writing to foreground key information, to contrast ('It was the new method, not the old one, that produced results'), and to create a more sophisticated sentence structure. Both types use pronouns — 'it' and 'what' — in a structural rather than referential role. Recognising and producing cleft sentences is a mark of advanced written proficiency.
Version B: 'The school board reviewed the results and made a decision about the timetable. This decision was announced at the staff meeting and affected all staff.'
Both versions contain the same information. Which reads more clearly? What specific pronoun choices make Version B clearer than Version A?
Version A has four sentences, each beginning with a pronoun: 'They', 'This', 'It' — all with vague or ambiguous antecedents. 'They' — who specifically? 'This' — what exactly? 'It' — what it? Each pronoun forces the reader to pause and check the reference. Version B reduces the pronoun load by: combining sentences to reduce opportunities for vague reference, naming 'this decision' instead of just 'this', and using 'all staff' instead of the vague pronoun 'everyone'. This is the central challenge of pronoun use in formal writing: minimising vague reference, making pronouns earn their place, and preferring nouns where the pronoun reference would be unclear.'
| Form | Use / Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Pronoun use | Formal pattern | Example |
| Avoiding 'I' — dummy it | It is + adjective + that/to... | It is essential that teachers receive training. |
| Reporting established views | It has been + past participle + that... | It has been shown that feedback improves outcomes. |
| Emphasis — it-cleft | It was + noun + who/that + verb | It was the new approach that made the difference. |
| Emphasis — wh-cleft | What + verb + was/is + noun phrase | What matters most is consistent teacher support. |
| Generic singular reference | singular they/their/them | Each teacher must submit their plan by Monday. |
| Clear broad reference | this + noun (not this alone) | This decision was welcomed by all staff. |
| Avoiding vague they | Name the agent specifically | The school administration announced... (not: they announced...) |
FIRST PERSON IN FORMAL WRITING: WHEN IS IT APPROPRIATE?
The convention against using 'I' in formal writing varies by context and genre. In scientific and academic writing, impersonal structures are generally preferred. However, in professional communications such as formal letters, reports written in the first person are often acceptable and even expected. 'I write to inform you that...' 'We would like to draw your attention to...' In school reports written about students, 'I have observed that...' is perfectly normal. The key is consistency and awareness of what is expected in the specific genre. Teachers should be aware that the 'never use I' rule is an oversimplification — the real rule is to use impersonal structures when the content should sound objective and authoritative.
IT VERSUS THERE AS DUMMY SUBJECTS
Both 'it' and 'there' function as dummy subjects in English. 'It is raining.' 'There are forty students in the class.' 'There is evidence to suggest...' 'It is clear that...' These are different structures but both serve to introduce statements without a true subject. 'There' introduces existential statements (there is, there are — something exists). 'It' introduces evaluative statements or postpones the real subject. In formal writing, 'there is evidence' and 'it is clear' are both common and appropriate.
PRONOUN ECONOMY IN FORMAL WRITING
One mark of sophisticated formal writing is pronoun economy — using pronouns only when the reference is clear, and preferring nouns or noun phrases when there is any risk of ambiguity. A useful self-editing rule: read each sentence and underline every pronoun. For each pronoun, ask: is the antecedent immediately clear? If not, replace the pronoun with the noun or restructure the sentence. This simple editing practice significantly improves the clarity and professionalism of formal documents.
PRONOUN CHECK FOR FORMAL WRITING - Is 'I think' or 'I believe' used where an impersonal structure would be stronger? → Replace with 'It is important that...' or 'It has been shown that...' - Is there a 'this' or 'it' with an unclear antecedent? → Add a noun: 'this decision', 'this finding', 'this change'. - Is 'they' used without a specific named antecedent? → Name the agent: 'the school board', 'the district authority', 'the teaching staff'. - Is a generic singular noun (a teacher, each student) followed by 'his' or 'her'? → Replace with singular 'they/their'. - Could the sentence be made more emphatic using a cleft structure? → Try: 'It was... that...' or 'What... is/was...' - Is every pronoun in the text doing clear, necessary work? → If the antecedent is not immediately clear, restructure.
Choose the correct option to complete each sentence in a formal writing context.
Each sentence contains a pronoun error inappropriate for formal writing. Write the correct sentence and explain the mistake.
Use this sequence directly in class — guided discovery, no textbook needed. Tap each step to mark it done.
STEP 1 — PERSONAL TO IMPERSONAL (8 minutes): Write three sentences using 'I think' or 'I believe' on the board. Ask learners to rewrite each one using an impersonal structure with dummy 'it'. Model the first one together: 'I think feedback is important' → 'It is important that teachers receive feedback.' Go through the patterns: 'It is important/essential/necessary that...', 'It has been shown/argued that...', 'It should be noted that...' Ask learners to produce two more on their own.
STEP 2 — CLEFT SENTENCES (8 minutes): Write a neutral sentence on the board. Show how it can become an it-cleft or a wh-cleft. For example: 'The training helped teachers improve.' → It-cleft: 'It was the training that helped teachers improve.' → Wh-cleft: 'What helped teachers improve was the training.' Ask learners to convert three more neutral sentences into cleft sentences. Discuss the emphasis each version creates.
STEP 3 — SINGULAR THEY (6 minutes): Write five sentences with generic singular nouns (a student, each teacher, any learner, the head teacher, a parent). Ask learners to complete each sentence using a pronoun. Take responses and confirm that singular 'they/their/them' is standard and correct in formal writing. If learners produce 'his' or 'her', discuss the limitation of these choices.
STEP 4 — CONTROL THE REFERENCE (8 minutes): Give learners a short paragraph with four vague pronouns (this, it, they, that) without clear antecedents. Ask them to identify each vague reference and improve it — either by adding a noun after 'this/that', naming the agent instead of 'they', or restructuring the sentence. Share corrections as a class and discuss the choices made.
STEP 5 — EDIT A FORMAL DOCUMENT (10 minutes): Give learners a short formal document — a school report paragraph or a letter — with five deliberate pronoun problems. Ask them to find and fix all five, writing a brief explanation for each correction. Share and compare. Give specific feedback on the quality of the corrections and the explanations.
Use directly in class — copy, adapt, or read aloud. No printing needed.
For each strategy, choose the option that best describes where you are now.
Your feedback helps other teachers and helps us improve TeachAnyClass.