Referring back in a general way

9.18 There are various groups of nouns which are used to refer back in a general way to what has already been said. They refer to whole sections of spoken or written text.

referring to spoken or written texts 9.19 You can often refer back to what has already been said in a text by using a noun which classes it as a type of verbal action, for example an admission, suggestion, or question.

'Martin, what are you going to do?'—'That's a good question, Larry.'

'You claim to know this man's identity?'—'I do.'—'You can substantiate this claim?'

The noun that you use to refer back like this not only refers to the test but also shows your feelings about it. For example, if you refer back to someone's reply to something using the noun 'response', this shows that your feelings about it are quite neutral, whereas if you use the noun 'retort', this shows that your feelings about the reply are much stronger.

Here is a list of nouns which refer back to texts, classing them as types of verbal action:

account accusation acknowledgement admission advice allegation announcement answer apology appeal argument assertion assurance boast charge claim comment complaint compliment concession condemnation confession contention correction criticism declaration

defence definition demand denial denunciation description digression disclosure discussion endorsement excuse explanation exposition gossip information judgement lie message narrative objection observation plea point prediction promise pronouncement

prophecy proposal proposition protest question reference refusal remark reminder reply report request response retort revelation rumour statement stipulation story suggestion summary tale threat verdict warning

Note that many of these nouns are related to reporting verbs. Reporting verbs are explained in Chapter 7.

People will feel the need to be informed and they will go wherever they can to get this information.

'I don't know what we should do about that.' This remark had the effect of totally dumbfounding the audience.

The Chancellor remarked that he had no inferiority complex about the Soviet Union.

9.20 In the same way, you can also refer back to ideas that you know or think someone has by using a noun which also indicates your feelings about the ideas. For example, if you refer to someone's idea using the noun 'view', this shows that your feelings about it are quite neutral, whereas if you use the noun 'delusion', this shows that your feelings are stronger.

The unemployment in the rural areas is often thought to be due entirely to population growth, and no doubt this is an important factor. But those who hold this view still have to explain why additional people cannot do additional work.

'There is nothing to cry for. They cannot keep me there against my will.' Secure in this belief, he hugged her reassuringly and followed the servants out.

Here is a list of nouns which refer to ideas and show your feelings about the ideas:

analysis assessment assumption attitude belief conclusion conjecture concept deduction delusion

diagnosis doctrine doubt estimate evaluation fear finding guess hope idea

illusion inference insight interpretation misinterpretation notion opinion picture plan position

reasoning supposition theory thinking view viewpoint vision wish

9.21 You can also refer back to actions and events using nouns which show your feelings about the action or event. For example, if you use the noun 'incident' to refer to an accident at a nuclear power station, this appears to simply describe the event, whereas if you use the noun 'disaster', this shows your reaction to the event.

There might bean uncomfortable moment or two when Gwen learned of his intention, but she was not the kind to make a fuss. In any event, he could handle the situation, which would not be a new one.

I believed the press would cooperate on this issue.

Parents may complain that their child eats badly at meals but is always begging for food between meals. This problem doesn't arise because the parents have been lenient about food between meals.

He entered his name for the Boxing Day race, which to Belinda's delight he subsequently won. She seemed for some reason to regard the exploit as reflecting credit on herself.

Here is a list of nouns which refer to events and are neutral:

act action affair aspect case circumstances context development effect

episode event experience fact factor feature incident issue matter

method move phenomenon position possibility practice process reason respect

result situation state state of affairs subject system thing topic way

Here is a list of nouns which refer to events and show your feelings about them:

achievement advantage answer

crisis difficulty disadvantage

disaster exploit feat

nightmare plight predicament

problem solution tragedy

PRODUCTIVE FEATURE 9.22 When you are referring back to something that has been said or mentioned, you can use almost any noun which refers to texts, ideas, events, and sometimes even to people. The noun you use allows you to express your exact reaction to the thing which is being referred to. For example, you can refer to a football defeat using nouns such as 'tragedy' or 'farce', and you can refer to an argument using nouns such as 'wrangle' and 'battle'. This is a productive feature of English. Productive features are explained in the Introduction.

referring to pieces of writing 9.23 You can refer in a neutral way to a previous piece of writing.

As explained in the previous paragraph, the bottle needs only to be washed clean.

We have seen in this chapter how the tax burden has increased fastest for households with children.

Here is a list of nouns used to refer to a piece of writing:

chapter example excerpt extract

instalment item letter paragraph

passage phrase quotation section

sentence statement summary table

text words