The relationship between grammatical knowledge and reading ability in third grade good andpoor readers was investigated. Two aspects of grammar – binding and control –were assessed to determine whether poor readers had syntactic deficits. These principles bothrelate to the interpretation of pronominal elements. Interpretations were assessed through asentence–picture matching task in which picture depictions of all the possibleinterpretations of pronominal elements in verbally presented sentences were included. The onlysentence type that differentiated the two reading groups was performance on sentences related toone of the binding principles, Principle B. Since obedience to Principle B probably involvespragmatic as well as syntactic principles, this finding suggests another way that good readersmay differ from poor readers.