638 - 'None.' How Pirates Talked.

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Mignon Fogarty, Inc.

Society & Culture, Education

4.5 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2018

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Some people say only "none is" is right, but we tackle "none are." Plus, we have an extra fun segment about pirate-speak for Talk Like a Pirate Day. FOLLOW GRAMMAR GIRL Twitter: http://twitter.com/grammargirl Facebook: http://facebook.com/grammargirl Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/realgrammargirl Instagram: http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl SPONSORS http://blinkist.com/grammar http://stitcherpremium.com/grammar (offer code GRAMMAR) GRAMMAR POP iOS GAME Optimized for iPad: http://bit.ly/GrammarPopiPad For iPad and iPhone: http://bit.ly/GrammarPop GRAMMAR GIRL BOOKS http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl-book-page

Transcript

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0:00.0	Grimer Girl here, I'm Minyon Fogridi.
0:07.4	This week I have a quick and dirty tip about the word none.
0:11.0	And then we'll celebrate talk like a pirate day with some fun piratey words.
0:16.7	When you're thinking about singular and plural, you often consider whether you have one
0:21.5	or many of something.
0:23.6	The word none is tricky because it's nothing.
0:27.2	It's not one or many of something.
0:30.4	The truth is that none can be singular or plural, but many people believe it can only be
0:36.2	singular.
0:37.7	First let's talk about the singular.
0:40.4	When none means roughly not one or no single one, it's followed by a singular verb.
0:47.5	It also takes a singular verb when it's followed by a mass noun like water.
0:52.1	None of the water is polluted.
0:55.4	But when none means roughly not any or your sentence has a sense of plurality, none can
1:02.0	take a plural verb and it often sounds more natural.
1:06.0	Here's an example.
1:07.2	I talked to the boys and none of them are coming to the party.
1:11.4	None of them are coming to the party.
1:14.5	You may be chided by the uninformed when you follow none with a plural verb, but don't
1:19.6	be afraid to do so if your sentence calls for it.
1:22.8	The AP style book, the Chicago Manual of Style, Garner's Modern English Usage, the Oxford
1:27.9	English Dictionary, and the American Heritage Dictionary Usage Note all say it's fine to
	...

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