[General] Cataphoric reference

Is this an example of catephoric reference -- referring forward in the text.

"It is impossible to understand South Africa today without appreciating the effects of Mandela's complex answer." Does "it" at the beginning of the sentence refer to "understand South Africa today without appreciating the effects of Mandela's complex answer"?

I don't think "it" is a pronoun here. By the way, is there a term for this kind of sentence?

The following sentence would be an example using catephoric reference.
"Having cleaned it, he returned the ball to the bowler." ("it" refers forward to "the ball")

Thanks a lot.

I'm surprised that someone who knows the word "cataphora" (I had to look it up) is not familiar with the grammatical concept of "the dummy it."

Barb_D said:

I'm surprised that someone who knows the word "cataphora" (I had to look it up) is not familiar with the grammatical concept of "the dummy it."

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I just learned the different types of reference, but forgot the term for the "it" structure. Do you think the "it" in my example refer to the latter part of the sentence? Thanks for the link.

sbby said:

I just learned the different types of reference, but forgot the term for the "it" structure. Do you think the "it" in my example refer to the latter part of the sentence? Thanks for the link.

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No. That use of "it" does not refer to anything.

MikeNewYork said:

No. That use of "it" does not refer to anything.

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thanks

sbby said:

[STRIKE]thanks[/STRIKE] Thanks.

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