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--></style><title>Re: none...have/has</title></head><body>
<div>At 10:10 AM -0400 4/17/01, P2052@AOL.COM wrote:</div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">A number of
the older grammar books/style manuals claim that either<br>
acceptable. <br>
In<i> The Complete Stylist and Handbook, 3rd ed.</i> (1984), Sheridan
acknowledges<br>
both a singular and a plural usage; however, he embraces the singular
sense<br>
of<i> none</i>: "<i>None of them are</i>, of course is
very common. From Shakespeare's<br>
time to ours, it has persisted alongside the more precise<i> none of
them is</i>,<br>
which seems to have the edge in careful prose, since it follows the
structure<br>
of English, matching singular with singular" (354).
</font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div>I find this argument entirely circular and question-begging,
besides flying in the face of centuries of distinguished usage.</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">He cites
the following<br>
examples:<br>
<span
></span> <i><b
>FAULTY</b></i>: <i>None</i> of these men<i> are</i>
failures.<br>
<span
></span> <i><b
>REVISED</b></i>: <i>None</i> of these men<i> is</i> a
failure.<br>
<span
></span> <i><b
>FAULTY</b></i>: <i>None</i> of the class, even those best
prepared<i>, want</i><br>
the test.<br>
<span
></span> <i><b
>REVISED</b></i><b>: </b><i>None</i> of the class, even those
best prepared,<i><br>
wants</i> the<br>
<span
></span
> <span
></span
> <span
></span> test.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font face="Arial" size="-1">Note that
these uses of<i> none</i> are the equivalent of<i> not one</i>.
</font></blockquote>
<div><font face="Arial" size="-1"><br></font></div>
<div>Actually, I'm not sure that "none" = 'not one' in the
second example: "Not one of the class wants the
test"? In any case, this equivalence (often used by
earlier prescriptivists as a rationale for the singular agreement) is
a bit of a red herring, since the one case where everyone has always
used singular agreement, "none of the X" for mass noun X,
doesn't permit a "not one" paraphrase. </div>
<div><br></div>
<div>larry</div>
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