<p>The Puritans differed from the Pilgrims in that they ...</p>
<p>Is "they" ambiguous? </p>
<p>Can a referent refer to something in a prepositional phrase?</p>
<p>Hey IceQube,</p>
<p>Try finishing the sentence:</p>
<p>“The Puritans differed from the Pilgrims in that they fared better on the SAT.”</p>
<p>It seems to me that “they” cannot refer to the Pilgrims.</p>
<p>P.S. What are you worried about - didn’t you ace your SAT Writing? :)</p>
<p>P.P.S. Could you PM me the PSAT bundle link? :P</p>
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<p>Yep :p. I just need clarification on this sentence.</p>
<p>If you’re feeling extra nice, maybe you can PM me that link too :)</p>
<p>The pronoun “They” is ambiguous here. While logic suggests that the pronoun refers to the former group, SAT rules (and literal grammar) dictate that this usage is ambiguity and consequently a clear mistake.</p>
<p>“they” as used in the phrase “in that they” is not ambiguous. It clearly refers to the subject of the sentence and not to the noun with which the subject is compared. The usage is correct.</p>
<p>The combination “in that” functions as a conjunction … akin to “because” … so I don’t think your question regarding prepositional phrases applies.</p>