I came across this sentence that said,

until now, none of my friends have been able to crack the problem.

and the answer had the have replaced with "has" ( singular)

Going by the SANAM pronoun section in Manhattan SC guide is not the above sentence a plural and consequently "have" the right usage ?

Thanks

Sankar

Sankar, Good question. In this sentence, "none" actually means "not one." Since the sentence is differentiating among the actions of individual friends, the correct verb form is singular: not one of my friends has been able to crack the problem.

-dan

Thankyou Dan !

So when does "none" mean no one ?


here does none refer to no one again ?
"none of them have ever been to the Europe "


also, could you give an example of a sentence where "have' is used along with "None "


Thanks again !

Sankar

Sankar,

Actually a widespread grammatical debate exists between none as the singular "not one" and none as the plural "not any." Until I personally read about or come across a question on an offical GMAT using none as plural, I will consider none singular. However, if you are a grammarian (or just have some time to kill), feel free to check out the following link - just one of many on the Net.

http://www.grammarmudge.cityslide.com/articles/article/1026513/9903.htm

-dan

SC question No. 17 in OG-11 uses "None" as singular.

Nauman

True, but interestingly, determining its number is not essential to finding the correct answer.

Rey

And that actually supports Dan's point - he said that he will consider "none" singular on the test UNLESS he sees an official question that uses "none" as plural. :)