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No one, nobody and nothing are used as substantives only. No one and nobody refer to persons and can be used in the genitive case; nothing has non–personal reference and is invariable in form:
• Nobody came to meet me.
• No one knows about it yet.
• Everybody's business is nobody's business, [a proverb]
• He had nothing to say.
• Nothing was heard of him
No one, nobody and nothing make the whole clause in which they occur negative. After a negative pronoun, ' any '–words normally occur:
• No one has any doubts about his ability.
• Nobody ever tells me anything.
No one (also written 'no–one' in BrE) has the same meaning as nobody. It cannot be followed by an of –phrase:
• No one came to see me off.
• I asked again, but no one answered.
USAGE NOTES
(a) Nothing and nobody can be used with the indefinite article and acquire a plural form to mean 'a trifling thing, event, remark or person' and 'person of no importance, authority or position', respectively:
• The new commander–in–chief was a (mere) nothing.
• She has married a (mere) nobody.
• They were treated as nobodies.
Note also: the little nothings of life; to whisper sweet/soft nothings.
(b) Note the idiomatic use of nothing:
• It was (or it's) nothing. [ = There's no need to thank me or praise me]
• Nothing doing tonight – there's only an old film on at the cinema, the bowling alley is closed down, so we're staying at home, [a) = Nothing is happening]
• Will you help me with the washing up? – Nothing doing. I must go and get my work done, [b) = No, I refuse]
• There's nothing to it. [= It really is easy]
• It was an awful hotel: the meals were bad, the service hopeless, to say nothing of the noise outside. [= to say nothing of something very obvious that only needs to be named; in addition to...]
None
None is used as a substantive. It is negative in meaning and has personal and non–personal reference. None occurs without a noun if the meaning is clear from the context:
• How many English books have you read? – None.
• He asked them for advice. None was given.
The verb can be singular or plural, depending on the sense required:
• He asked for more coffee, but none was left.
• She wanted some more chocolates but none was left, [formal]
• She wanted some more chocolates but none were left, [informal]
None is often followed by an of –phrase containing a pronoun or a definite noun phrase:
• None of it is worth keeping.
• None of this ham is any good.
• None of the shopkeepers would give me any more credit.
• None of them remembered my birthday.
When the of– phrase contains a plural pronoun or noun, the verb can be singular (more formal) or plural (more informal):
• None of them is/are present.
Careful speakers and writers prefer 'none of them is'.
USAGE NOTES
a) No one (nobody) is used to answer a 'who '–question:
• Who're you waiting for? – No one (nobody).
b) Nothing is used to answer a "what '–question:
• What're you thinking about? – Nothing.
c) None is used to answer a 'how many '/' how much '–question:
• How many poems have you learned? – None.
• How much petrol is left? – None.
(d) Note the idiomatic use of none
• Her suggestion was second to none, and the manager accepted it eagerly. [= better than anything else]
• I lent my bike to Bob; when I got it back, it was none the worse for wear. [= no worse because of use or effort]
• We'll have none of your gossip. [= to tolerate or endure no amount of...]
• Half a loaf is better than none. [a proverb]
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| INDEFINITE PRONOUNS | | | Ex. 21 Insert some or any:. |