ENGLISH
REFERENCE

none of

prep. phr..
A2 Elementary Oxford

prep. phr.. not any part or not any one of a group of things or people.

prep. phr.. a negative quantifier phrase used to indicate the total absence of a subset from a larger group or whole.


SIMPLE

None of my friends are here yet.

CONTEXTUAL

I tried three different keys, but none of them opened the front door.

COMPLEX

None of the proposed solutions addressed the underlying structural issues that had plagued the organization for decades.

Usage

followed by a plural noun or pronoun; in formal writing, it often takes a singular verb, though plural verbs are common in speech.

Teaching tip

help students distinguish between 'none of' (for three or more) and 'neither of' (for exactly two).

Pitfall

None of the cake were eaten.None of the cake was eaten.when 'none of' refers to an uncountable noun like 'cake', the verb must be singular.

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