None / nobody

Question

1. “none” or “nobody” is used in this sentence?

Ex. Which of them is her boyfriend? – None./ Nobody.

2. Single or plural number do you use after “none of”?

Ex. None of my friends have their own house. / has his own house.

Thank you in advance.

Andriy Lapin · Accepted Answer

Hello, Alex,

when talking about two people or things, use neither. For three or more, use none. Using nobody and, additionally, no one is also possible.

None of + uncountable noun - singular:

None of the money has been spent on repairs.

None + plural countable nouns - usage is divided:

None of the books has/have been placed on the shelves.

(Prescriptive grammarians insist on has (singular), but have (plural) tends to be more frequently used nowadays)

Respectfully, Gleb Chebrikoff

TrysB · Answer

Hi Alex

Here's a good description of the kinds of indefinite pronouns and the verb forms they require:
http://www.grammaruntied.com/blog/?p=319

In the first sentence i would say neither of them is her boyfriend. Or you could say "Neither one is her boyfriend." The problem would come if there were three potential boyfriends. You can't say neither because that only applies when you are talking about two. So, in that case you would say "None of them is her boyfriend." Note that even though the sentence is about several people, it takes a singular verb--'none is'.

You can remember this easier, i think, if you turn the sentence around and say "Her boyfriend is none of them." Then it is obvious that 'boyfriend' takes a singular verb. Actually, the best way to say it would be "Her boyfriend is not one of them." None and not one have the same meaning in that sentence.

In your second sentence, the verb should agree with the object of the prepostion 'of' which is plural, friends--"None of my friends have their own house." This is not always true in other sentences, however, which is what makes English so frustrating. You will find people who say that 'none' always takes a singular verb, but that is not true either. The Oxford English Dictionary lists many examples of uses of a plural verb with none. But it would not be a serious error, or alter the meaning in any way to use 'has' rather than 'have' in your sentence.

I hope this helps. I try to make it clear without giving a big speech!

Good luck,
TrysB

Alex+ · Answer

TrysB, thank you for your great big speech ;-)

So the answer in the first example is “None is.” Can I say just “None” without “is”?

Do you personally prefer to use singular or plural form of verb after “none of’?

TrysB · Answer

Hi Alex,
Sure. You could answer "Neither" if there were two or "None" if more than two.

As for singular or plural after 'none of', i can think of sometimes when i use the singular, like "None of the above is correct" to refer to a test answer, and sometimes plural "None of my friends live in New Zealand".

So, like just about everything in English, the rules don't hold true 100% of the time. Eventually you just get a 'feel' for what is right in a particular case. To me that is what it means to master a language. But i really like the differences that a non-native English speaker can put into the language. They can come up with some of the greatest new combinations of words that a native speaker would never think of and that's what makes it so much fun. You get to see your language brand new through another person's eyes.

Alex+ · Answer

Thanks again.

As to making up the greatest new combinations in English I’m a great expert in this field ;-)

None / nobody

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