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jobbynext
Joined: 28 Jun 2005
Posts: 26
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 Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 12:48 pm Post subject: Concordances: all of, none of, neither of and both of |
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I know the meaning of these words but I've got some doubts with the concordance with the verb, especially with none of. I'll give same examples and then check it:
All of them were having fun (All of = plural)
Both of us have a nice house ( Both of = plural)
None of us makes the bed in the morning. ( None of = singular, I'm a bit confused because I read that it was plural but in another book I saw it was singular!!)
Neither of you likes animals (Is it singular?)
I'll be very grateful if some of you could help me. Thanks in advance! |
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Meadowlark
Joined: 19 Feb 2006
Posts: 73
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| Posted: Sun Feb 26, 2006 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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Hi jobbynext,
Your examples are correct.
Neither of you is singular. It means not one OR the other. If it meant not one AND the other it would be plural! 
Here are two examples from dictionary.com:
Neither of the twins is here.
Neither of them is incorrect.
You also had a question about none of us:
| Quote: |
( None of = singular, I'm a bit confused because I read that it was plural but in another book I saw it was singular!!)
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None means not one and when it is used alone it is always singular.
Example: Although many tried, none had the courage to climb to the top.
The problem most people have concerns none of.
None of is followed by a plural noun or pronoun.
Examples: None of my friends; none of the workers; none of them; none of us
In some cases a plural verb sounds better so it's easy to become confused.
Which of these sounds better to you?
None of my friends are going to the party.
None of my friends is going to the party.
In my opinion the first one sounds better!
As you found in your books, even the experts have different opinions about which is correct.
Here is some information I found recently while looking for information to help another student:
Agreement by Proximity
Sometimes a noun that is adjacent to the verb can exert more influence than the noun that is the grammatical subject.
Selecting a verb in a sentence like "A variety of styles (has been/have been) in vogue for the last year" can be tricky. The traditional rules require has been, but the plural sense of the noun phrase presses for have been.
While 59 percent of experts insist on the singular verb in this sentence, 22 percent actually prefer the plural verb and another 19 percent say that either has or have is acceptable, meaning that 41 percent find the plural verb with a singular grammatical subject to be acceptable.
Some people believe that the verb should agree with the closer of the two nouns. This is called Agreement by Proximity.
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The current usage trend seems to follow the principle of Agreement by Proximity. So although there is no universally accepted rule to guide you in this matter, you may wish to rely on the principle of Agreement by Proximity and choose a plural verb when a plural noun is directly adjacent to the verb.
However, as if this isn�t confusing enough, I should add that for a question on a standardized test it might be wise to use a singular verb for the singular subject even when the verb is adjacent to a plural noun. Standardized tests typically follow the opinion of the majority of experts.
I'm beginning to feel tired so please forgive me if I've made you even more confused. If you need more help please write again.
Meadowlark |
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jobbynext
Joined: 28 Jun 2005
Posts: 26
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| Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2006 3:11 am Post subject: Thanks!! |
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| Well, I think it's a difficult matter to make an agreement. In my language there's something similar so I can understand what you explained me quite good. Thanks for your help! |
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