Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

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contrast with/or?

in contrasting with/to?


none of them are/is?
each of them is/are?

[Eric Thompson]

Hello, The verb contrast should be followed by with. Like, "His appearance contrasts with his personality." But to is used in the phrase in contrast to (not in contrasting). Like, "In contrast to his sloppy attire, he is a very organized person."... I say "none of them are", "each of them is". Goodbye

[CP]

Sorry to disagree with Mr. Thompson about "none," but "none are" is not corect grammar.

"None" means "not one," so the verb should be in the singular:

"None of them is very happy with the election turnout."

"None of us is going to pay money to see her in a movie again."
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Eric Thompson]

But Mr. CP, Do you really say "None of them is going with us.", when you speak casually? Logically, you should say that, I suppose (i.e., none = not one), but practically-speaking, I submit, a majority of Americans say "None of them are....". It rolls off the tongue easier. Also, one could interpret "none of them are" as being the same as "all of them are not", which is definitely plural (i.e., none = all not). Anyway, I just looked up my Webster's, which states that it can be either singular or plural in construction. So, either way, I guess. But I'll stick with the roll of the tongue.

[Mary W. Ng]

The indefinite pronoun none can take a singular or plural verb depending on its meaning. None can mean 'not one' or 'not some'.
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Mary W. Ng
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[CP]