--- In [email protected], "sparaig" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > --- In [email protected], "authfriend" <jstein@> wrote: > > > > > > --- In [email protected], "sparaig" <sparaig@> wrote: <snip>
> > > Nectar is NOT "sweet > > > > poison." In fact, it is worse than normal poison. > > > > > > Huh?? MMY said ayurveda turns normal poison > > > into worse than normal poison? > > > > Nevermind, I got it. "It" in the last sentence > > refers to "sweet poison," not nectar, right? > > Yeah. An interesting problem with the English language. > Does "it" in the second senttence refer to the most recent > subject, or to the most recent noun? I don't know whether there's an actual rule, but the problem here is that you have three nouns all referring to similar substances, and you're attempting to elucidate the relationships between them. There aren't any clues as to the antecedent of the pronoun, as there would be if you were to say, for example, "The bee stung the dog. It howled and ran away." I think that's what caused my confusion.
