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About Ted Nesbitt
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I am the bibliographic instruction and reference librarian at a public college. Some members of the English department recommend me to their students. I offer assistance in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and paragraph development. My master`s thesis concerns William Faulkner`s tragic novels. I formerly taught advanced placement English at two schools in the Philadelphia area.

You are here: Experts > Arts/Humanities > Writing > General Writing and Grammar Help > "Is" or "are"

General Writing and Grammar Help - "Is" or "are"

Expert: Ted Nesbitt - 11/4/2009

Question
Came across this quote recently...

None of Us is As Smart as All of Us

is the usage correct? Isn't it supposed to be

None of Us are As Smart as All of Us ??

Answer
Dear Dinkar:

The subject of the sentence is the singular pronoun "none." "None" means "not one," which is singular, not plural. The prepositional phrase "of us" modifies the subject "none," but the object of the preposition "us" does NOT affect the singular status of the subject "none."

This usage is correct. Drop the two prepositional phrases and you'll see the picture: None is as smart as all.

Ted Nesbitt

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