Q: Identify which one has the correct sentence structures There are 4 options:
a. Melanie wrote to her sister once a week while she was living abroad.
b. While her sister was living abroad, Melanie wrote to her once a week.
c. When traveling abroad, a letter was written once a week by Melanie to her sister.
d. Her sister received a letter once a week from Melanie while she was living abroad.
The correct answer is b, while I chose a.
So my questions are:

*

*What is the 'she' referring to in each of option?

*Why is option 'a' wrong?


A: Grammatically, a) (and d) for that matter) could be said to be correct. The fact that it is not acceptable is due to the ambiguity of reference of the pronoun "she". It could refer both to Melanie and her sister. It is better to avoid sentences where you are not sure which noun is replaced by the pronoun.
b) successfully elucidates the ambiguity by dropping "she" and stating clearly the subject of each verb: It is her sister that lived abroad, not Melanie.
a) and d) are cases of ambiguous pronoun reference:

An ambiguous pronoun occurs when a sentence contains two possible antecedents, leaving the reader or listener unaware of which the pronoun is referring to, also known as a faulty pronoun reference. As a way to avoid ambiguity, it is best to place the pronoun close to its antecedent ... or replace the pronoun with the correct noun. (Study.com)

