Comments on: None – Singular or Plural

By: Clara

Clara — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 10:29:31 +0000

I, too, was taught in school (90s) that none is ALWAYS to be treated as singular.
The prepositional phrase should be ignored. If the rule were to choose singular vs. plural based on the phrase, then it would be correct to say “one of the books are ruined.” I think we can all agree that is not correct.
I think the point of choosing to say none is to stress that “not even one”…so therefore it makes sense to say “none of the books is ruined.” None might be the opposite of all BUT does not refer to “not all” because that could mean something like 1 out of 10 or 9 out of 10 was/were ruined.
To say “none are” may sound okay, but this is a case of a mistake being commonly used and accepted…which you could argue is how rules change over time, but I am for sticking to the old rule.
You are free to disagree if you wish…..

By: Jonni

Jonni — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:41:19 +0000

Carpe DM, don’t you think that even though the subject of the sentence is never in the prepositional phrase, the phrase does tell the reader what we have none of? Hence, wouldn’t it be “None of the money is missing” / “None of the coins are missing”? This is what we do with the word some, for we say “Some of the money is missing” and “Some of the coins are missing.”

By: Ken Chu

Ken Chu — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:47:55 +0000

I think Martha Kolln got it right, but for the wrong reason. The rule I’ve seen for deciding when to treat “none” as plural or singular is: follow its antecedent.
Your examples follow that rule. However, even that rule isn’t easy to follow at times:
None of the fish in this lake (is/are) from this area.
I think that one should be “are” because the word “fish” is plural in the sentence.

By: Pam Molinaro

Pam Molinaro — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:42:31 +0000

Can anyone tell me what is the correct use for the plural of Power of Attorney? Is it Powers of Attorney or Power of Attorneys?

By: Carpe DM

Carpe DM — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 14:44:34 +0000

My question concerning the issue of none’s singularity is more basic than a lot of the questions here. How can none be anything but singular? The PREPOSITIONAL phrase “of the cookies” in the sentence, “None of the cookies (was/were) left,” cannot be the subject because a subject is NEVER in a prepositional phrase. Therefore, how can none be anything but singular? It is from not one from the Old English word “nan” (a contraction of “ne an” meaning not one). When can it be used as a singular?

By: Rena Wallace

Rena Wallace — Tue, 16 May 2006 23:41:54 +0000

Here’s a question — my sister asked if there is a comparable word to “emasculate” to describe the weakening of a woman? There must be a word, but …defeminize doesn’t quite do it though. Any suggestions? Rena W.

By: Karl

Karl — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 16:47:14 +0000

Monica, it’s hard to tell what punctuation should come at the end because you’ve only given me the dependent clause. I would need to see the main clause, too, to know whether a period or question mark would be more appropriate. For example, we could have this: “Whether defendant’s acceptance of the plea agreement and entry of a guilty plea were rendered involuntarily, will the judge sentence him to a prison term?” Or, we could have this: “Whether defendant’s acceptance of the plea agreement and entry of a guilty plea were rendered involuntarily, the judge will not declare a mistrial.
Elsa Maria, could you please give me a couple example sentences?

By: Elsa Maria

Elsa Maria — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 21:18:44 +0000

What is the difference between “didn’t get” and “haven’t got to”? I know they are different because of the tense, but is there any other difference or special case in which we use them?

By: Monica

Monica — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 14:02:01 +0000

When using “whether” in legal writing (or simple english) to begin a sentence, the sentence punctuation should be a question mark or period? for example: “Whether defendant’s acceptance of the plea agreement and entry of a guilty plea were rendered involuntary.”
Thank you!

By: Karl

Karl — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:54:10 +0000

Ben, it is proper to use "an" when an abbreviated name begins with a vowel sound. Please see my other entry for more information: A versus An: The Indefinite Article.