§ 24. The pronoun none is a noun pronoun.,It is negative in

meaning indicating not one or not any and can be used of persons

(cf. no one) as well as of things, countable and uncountable (cf.

nothing). The verb following it may be singular or plural, according

to the sense required.

e.g. None of us knows where he is going to work. None

of them are any use to me. None of them really know

how ill she is. We discovered that none of his

promises was kept. He asked them for advice. None

was given. I wanted some more coffee but none was

left.

Note. The difference between none and the negatives no one (nobody) and nothing

is easily brought out with the help of questions. No one (nobody) is used in answer

to a w/to-question.

e.g. "Who are you speaking to?" "No one, (nobody)"

Nothing is used in answer to a what-ques,tion. e.g.

"What are you doing there?" "Nothing"

But none is used in answer to a how many- or how much-question.

e.g. "How many fish did you catch?" "None"

"How much petrol is there in the car?" "None"

"How much progress did he make?" "None"

§ 25. The pronoun all can be used as a noun pronoun and as

an adjective pronoun.

All used as a noun pronoun is singular when it means 'everything',

'the whole of a thing'.

e.g. All's well that ends well, (proverb)

I don't find any change here, all looks as it always did.

•He has lost all.

Some day his pictures will be worth more than all you have

in your shop.

All used as a noun pronoun is plural when it means 'everybody',

'the total number of persons, animals or things.'

e.g. All are welcome.

All agree that he has behaved splendidly.All of us think so.

He made a few suggestions. All of them were acceptable.

When all is used as an adjective pronoun, the verb may be singular

or plural depending on the noun modified by all.

e.g. All the money was spent.

All that business fills me with disgust.

All the trunks are packed ready to go.

All students should register before October 1st.

There are a few peculiarities in the use of all:

1) When all is followed by a noun, there is no preposition be

tween them.1

e.g. He worked hard all time he was here.

I don't like to speak before all these people. All

my friends were happy to hear the news. All boys

prefer playing games to going to school.

However, when all is followed by a personal pronoun, the

preposition of must be used.

e.g. He has written three novels and all of them were best sellers.

All of us were disappointed by him.

Note. In American English nouns following all are often joined to it, like personal

pronouns, with the help of the preposition of.

e.g. All of our students have registered.

All of these books are mine.

2) Note the possible place of all with nouns (a) and personal

pronouns (b) used as the subject of the sentence.

e.g. a) All the students found the lectures helpful.

The students all found the lectures helpful, b)

All of them found the lectures helpful. They all

found the lectures helpful.

3) All may be followed by an appositive clause which is usually

introduced by the conjunction that or asyndetically.

e.g. Meeting George was the first piece of pure chance that affected

all (that) I did later.

1 For the use or absence of the definite article after all see "Articles", §10, Note.

She listened to all (that) he said with a quiet smile on her lips.

Note the following idiomatic uses of all:

e.g. He is all in. (= He is completely exhausted.) It was all my

fault. (= entirely) The money is all gone. (= completely) He

was all covered with mud. (= wholly) I did not understand it

at all. (= in the least degree) After all, people laughed at

Manet, though everyone now * knows he was a great

painter.

I warn you, once and for all, that this foolishness must stop.

(= for the last and only time)