Who Does “He” Refer to in Branching Subtitles: How Can You Remove Ambiguity Without Lengthening Dialogue?

Here is the conclusion first: replace the pronoun with a form of address, let an action carry the reference, or rearrange the sentence so that the same line of dialogue has only one interpretation when read at all three entry points, and the word count can often stay the same or even become shorter. Below, a fictional teaching example, “two adult couriers in the same scene,” is used to walk through the complete process. All characters, dialogue, and numerical values are invented for explanation, not actual test data.

Pronoun ambiguity is usually not a problem with the word “he” itself, but with two candidate referents of the same gender, same number, and same level of activity appearing in the same sentence. Courier Atang and Courier Lao Zhou are in the same post station. Both are present and both are speaking. At this point, “He will deliver the letter to the north gate” has two readings.

First make a minimal comparison table, list the three entry points clearly, and then fill in the number of readings for the original sentence one by one. The three entry points are: the player enters from Atang’s entry point, enters from Lao Zhou’s entry point, and the public entry point where both are present. The same subtitle can carry different amounts of information at the three entry points, but the reference must be unique.

Both readings appear at all three entry points, which shows that the problem is not a difference between entry points, but that the sentence itself lacks a reference clue.

The principle for correction is: make the reference clue appear before the pronoun, or at the same beat as the pronoun, so the reader does not need to look back and guess. There are three usable types of clues.

Form of address: directly replace “he” with “Lao Zhou” or “Atang.” This is the most stable type. The cost is a slight increase in word count, but usually only by one or two characters.

Action: let a certain person perform an action that only he can perform, with the pronoun immediately following this action. In “Lao Zhou slings the mail pouch onto his shoulder, he will take the north gate,” “he” can only refer to Lao Zhou, because the one slinging the mail pouch is Lao Zhou.

Rearrangement: move the person being referred to to the beginning of the sentence as the subject, and let the pronoun retreat to the second half. “The letter is handed to Atang, he will take the north gate” is clearer than “He will deliver the letter to the north gate, the letter is handed to Atang,” because the reference is front-loaded.

The common point of the three types of clues is: first present a verifiable fact (who performed the action, who was named, who is at the beginning of the sentence), and then present the pronoun. If written in reverse, the reader must first guess and then verify, and the ambiguity remains.

Still using Atang and Lao Zhou. The original sentence is unified as “He will deliver the letter to the north gate.”

At Atang’s entry point, the player’s identity is Atang. At this point, “he” is most easily read as Lao Zhou, but it may also be read as Atang himself. The revision uses a form of address: “Lao Zhou will deliver the letter to the north gate.” Six characters become eight characters, and the reference is unique.

At Lao Zhou’s entry point, the player’s identity is Lao Zhou, and “he” leans toward Atang. The revision uses an action: “Atang takes the letter, he will take the north gate.” Here the one who “takes the letter” is Atang, the pronoun immediately follows, the reference is unique, and the word count is the same as the original sentence.

At the public entry point, both are present, and both readings are valid. The revision uses rearrangement: “The north gate trip is given to Lao Zhou, he will go.” The person being referred to is front-loaded, the pronoun is later, and the reference is unique.

Put the three revised sentences back into the comparison table:

Subtitles are not independent text; they must align with voice acting, sound effects, and visual cues. When checking, ask three questions one by one.

Does the voice acting place emphasis on a certain person’s name? If so, the subtitle should write out that person’s name rather than leave a pronoun.

Is there an action in the visuals that only one person performs? If so, the subtitle’s pronoun must immediately follow this action, and the action cannot be placed after the pronoun.

Do the sound effects indicate who is moving or who is opening the door? If so, the subtitle’s reference should match the sound effect’s reference, and one cannot point to Atang while the other points to Lao Zhou.

The alignment check can be made into an item-by-item checklist, with each item filled in only as “aligned” or “needs revision.” For example:

• The voice emphasis is on “Lao Zhou,” and the subtitle says “he” — needs revision.
• In the visuals, Atang takes the letter, and the subtitle says “Atang takes the letter, he will take the north gate” — aligned.
• The sound effect is the sound of the north gate opening, and the subtitle says “he will go to the north gate,” with Lao Zhou already named earlier — aligned.

A common mistake is: the dialogue does not say who, but the subtitle secretly adds “Lao Zhou” to remove ambiguity. This makes the subtitle carry information that the dialogue does not have, and what the player hears and sees becomes inconsistent.

The standard for judgment is simple: cover the subtitles and only listen to the voice acting. Is the reference still unique? If listening only to the voice acting already yields two readings, then the problem is in the dialogue, and the dialogue or action should be changed, rather than making the subtitle alone bear the task of disambiguation. Subtitles can cooperate, but they cannot supply facts on behalf of the dialogue.

Similarly, do not add annotations such as “(referring to Lao Zhou)” in the subtitles. An annotation is a newly added fact at the text layer, not part of the dialogue.

Whenever you encounter pronoun ambiguity, follow the four steps below. No product settings need to be changed.

1. List all candidate referents of the same gender, same number, and same level of activity.
2. Write out the original sentence at each entry point, and mark the number of possible referents.
3. For sentences whose reference is not unique, first try a form of address, then try an action, and then try rearrangement.
4. Put the revised sentence back into the voice acting and visuals, and check item by item whether the reference is aligned.

Completion check: at all three entry points, every line of dialogue containing a pronoun has only one reading; after covering the subtitles and listening only to the voice acting, the reference is still unique; the subtitles do not add names or facts not stated in the dialogue. If all three are satisfied, this sentence can be finalized.

Pick the lines in your current branch that contain “he,” “she,” or “they,” and fill in the three entry points according to the comparison table above. Revise only those sentences whose reference is not unique, giving priority to forms of address, then actions, and finally rearrangement. After revising, cover the subtitles and listen to the voice acting once to confirm that the reference is still unique.