none...have/has

[Paul Frank]

  According to many grammar books, the number of the indefinite pronouns,
such
  as "some," "all," none," etc., depends on the number of the object of the
  preposition.
  Thus, if the object is considered singular, the singular verb is used;
  likewise, when the object is plural, so should the verb be.   The
following
  are examples:
  "Some of the money is. . . ."   "Some of the people are. . . ."       None
of
  the cake is. . . ."  "None of the cakes are. . . ."    All of the protest
is.
  . . ."
  "All of the protests are. . . ."
  I don't know how stilted your example would sound, but, in light of the
  above rule, it would be considered inaccurate.
                                                  PAT

Thanks for your response. So what about this example from the latest edition
of Fowler's?

"So far none of Gorbachev's many pronouncements has changed things on the
ground."

Or this one from Sidney Greenbaum's Oxford English Grammar (1996:193)?

"There have been six federal presidents since the birth of the federal state
and none has been as popular as the present president."

Quirk's comprehensive grammar says that both these examples are acceptable
(p.376):

Some reactions to the proposal may be hostile, but none such has yet been
reported.
Some reactions to the proposal may be hostile, but none such has yet been
reported.

And both these are okay as well (p.392):
None of the students has failed.
None of the students have failed.

And (p. 764):
None of the books has been placed on the shelves.
None of the books have been placed on the shelves.

I'm left wondering whether "none of the shark attacks in Florida has
involved..." is stilted. It's my impression that many English speakers would
prefer "none...has" to "none...have" in written English, although Fowler
okayed "none...have" as early as the 1926 edition of Modern English Usage.
Then again, I'm not a grammarian.

Paul
--
Paul Frank
Business, financial and legal translation
>From German, French, Chinese, Italian,
Spanish and Portuguese into English
mailto:paulfrank at post.harvard.edu
46?23'11.11''N 6?41'57.12''E




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