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"None of" - plural noun + singular or plural verb?

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"None of" - plural noun + singular or plural verb?

by Hopper39 » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:23 pm
MGMAT pg. 48 (under SANAM rules) -

"Technically, none of + plural noun can take either a singular or a plural verb form."

But alas, there is no further explanation. SANAM rules would suggest a plural noun -> plural verb, such as "Some of the documents were stolen..." but "none of" seems to be an exception.

Pg. 63 even has the construction "Moreover, none of the items is parallel..."

I've tried looking online, but there is no consensus. Some say the "none of" = "not one of", but that would imply the verb should always be singular, like "No one".

Anyone know if this is just an unsettled grammar issue?
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Re: "None of" - plural noun + singular or plural v

by El Cucu » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:45 pm
Hopper39 wrote:MGMAT pg. 48 (under SANAM rules) -

"Technically, none of + plural noun can take either a singular or a plural verb form."

But alas, there is no further explanation. SANAM rules would suggest a plural noun -> plural verb, such as "Some of the documents were stolen..." but "none of" seems to be an exception.

Pg. 63 even has the construction "Moreover, none of the items is parallel..."

I've tried looking online, but there is no consensus. Some say the "none of" = "not one of", but that would imply the verb should always be singular, like "No one".

Anyone know if this is just an unsettled grammar issue?

SANAM pronouns you should look at the object of the "of" construction to determine the number of the subject. In your example "None of the "items" ARE
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by Hopper39 » Mon Jan 19, 2009 3:49 pm
SANAM pronouns you should look at the object of the "of" construction to determine the number of the subject.
True generally for SANAM, but the book takes particular care to note that the rule is not always the case ONLY FOR "none of", and even uses a construction later (my ex. from pg. 63) that contradicts that SANAM rule:

"Moreover, none of the items is (not ARE) parallel..."
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by mmslf75 » Sat Jan 09, 2010 9:07 pm
Hopper39 wrote:
SANAM pronouns you should look at the object of the "of" construction to determine the number of the subject.
True generally for SANAM, but the book takes particular care to note that the rule is not always the case ONLY FOR "none of", and even uses a construction later (my ex. from pg. 63) that contradicts that SANAM rule:

"Moreover, none of the items is (not ARE) parallel..."
How to differentiate between usages of :

NONE
NO ONE
NOT ONE
ONE

MGMAT and various other sources are not square on this one !
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by papgust » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:22 am
I'm not sure about "Not one". I've not seen such usages while practice.

But i agree that usage of None is pretty different in various sources like Kaplan, MGMAT. But what i heard was GMAT rarely tests sentences with "None".

IMO, Usage of "One" is pretty straightforward and universal among all sources. Pls check out my previous post. I just listed down usages of "one" couple of min back.
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by Haaress » Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:20 pm
Stacey, please shed some light on this. Thanks!
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by XLogic » Mon Aug 01, 2011 10:37 am
My understanding is that None could be singular or plural depending on context.

None of (singular sense) = Not one of
None of (plural sense) = Not any of

i.e.,
- None of the children are in the pool (the children=plural, therefore, None=plural)
- None of it is on the table (it=singular, None=singular)

Comparisons: (Need some help here...)
Of all the Senators, none is more powerful than the President
Of all the Senators, none is more powerful than the President or Vice President
Of all the Senators, none are more powerful than the President and Vice President

Question: Is the third sentence accurate?
> It sounds odd to me (I know this is not GMAT speak). Kindly provide feedback.
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by XLogic » Mon Aug 01, 2011 11:25 am
From the Expert:
lunarpower wrote: ...

first, the singular/plural status of "none" is a VERY controversial subject.

clearly, "none" is singular in some circumstances, such as sentences in which the context makes it quite clear that a maximum of one person could have satisfied the stated conditions in the first place.
for instance,
james passed by over 200 women on the sidewalk, but none of them was his wife.
in this instance, we clearly want "none" to be singular, since it's impossible for more than one woman to be james's wife.

in other instances, however -- instances in which it's possible for multiple people/items to satisfy the stated conditions -- opinions are divided on whether "none" should be singular or plural.
e.g.
the museum owns a large number of valuable egyptian artifacts, but none of them is/are currently on display.

In the above instance, available sources are very sharply divided on whether "none" should be singular or plural. [It] is easy to find sources that declare that it should be singular; sources that declare that it should be plural; and sources that declare that either is all right.
...
Source: https://www.beatthegmat.com/kaplan-sc-t54559.html#236642
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