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#56147 Fri, 19 Nov 04 05:46 AM

Which is correct subject/verb agreement, none of us is smarter than all of us or none of us are smarter than all of us? I think that none stands for no one, so the verb is should be used. However my colleagues think none is plural, so the verb are is correct.

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Plurals, Verbs

Mister Micawber

#56171 Fri, 19 Nov 04 10:19 AM

And welcome to the basic dilemma on this topic. You are right that 'none is' is the traditionally correct agreement. The fact remains, however, that people are often thinking of several items when they say that 'none of these plates are chipped', particularly when the 'none' is followed by an 'of + plural noun' phrase, and therefore both forms are coming to assume equal acceptibility. Exactly when equality will hit the mainstream grammar books is hard to determine, but the plural form is already informally acceptable, so I wouldn't argue the matter too heavily.

Having said that, in your particular sentences, 'none of us is smarter than all of us', vs. 'none of us are smarter than all of us', the intended contrast between 'none' and 'all' makes the use of the singular here, to my ears, even more desirable than my attachment to conservative grammar would normally lead me.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (20,198)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Grammar, Nouns, Plurals

CalifJim

#56289 Sat, 20 Nov 04 04:57 AM

Something whimsical?

"none" may stand for "no one", but does that make it singular?
To me singular means there is one (single) thing we are talking about.
In fact "no one" (Note the word "no"!) is not the same as "one".
Stated differently, "one" is numerically 1; "no one" is not numerically 1, it is 0 (zero).

Maybe we should think in terms of singular and non-singular rather than singular and plural. Zero is certainly non-singular, I'd say, even though it's not plural. "are" is non-singular. Thinking of it like this, we should say "none of us are ...".

Unfortunately, thinking of it like this, we should also say, "none of it are ...". Tongue Tied [:S]

Or does "none" not stand for "no one" after all? At least not always?

Seriously, the textbook answer is "none ... is ...", but 'everyone' says "none ... are ..." if the word immediately preceding the verb is plural.

(And by the way, your colleagues who think "none" is plural really need to think about this a little more.!) Smile [:)]

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

Veteran Member (16,490)

"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

Plurals, Verbs

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