[visionlist] [cvnet] [External] Re: Abbreviations

[Gislin Dagnelie]

Actually, it's Dutch, where "geen" can be used with singular or plural, 
depending on context (as Dwayne pointed out for "none").

I would think "personne" is not a good equivalent, since it is clearly 
singular.  "Aucun" would be a better equivalent, but you're right, that too is 
used with the singular verb form: "Aucun n'a it..." rather than "aucun n'ont 
dit...."

Gislin
.

On 29 Apr 2022 at 19:07, Brian A. BARSKY <barsky at berkeley.edu> wrote:

Gislin, is your native language French?  Note that "none" conjugates with the
singular, not plural, in French (e.g., "personne ne donne" not "personne ne
donnent").

Brian


> On Apr 29, 2022, at 11:40 AM, Gislin Dagnelie via cvnet
<cvnet at lawton.ewind.com> wrote:
> 
> IMHO, and admittedly as a non-native speaker, "none" is the linguistic equivalent of
> an empty set, so one can assign either singular or plural to it. Neither is wrong, but
> plural is definitely the common choice.  Anyone with more linguistic knowledge, please
> weigh in. 
> 
> Gislin
> 
> 
> On 29 Apr 2022 at 17:56, Todd, James via cvnet <todd.44 at osu.edu> wrote:
> 
> I'm sure you are both correct in terms of formal grammar, but "none of them was removed"
> sounds weird to my ear, because "was" immediately follows "them". I'd be curious to know
> statistically what form of the verb the average speaker 
of
> English would use in that context. The verb change associated with the
> subjunctive is also grammatically correct, but most English speakers do not
use
> it, at least in the US.
> 
> Jim Todd
> ________________________________
> From: Lewis, Terri <lewistl at mcmaster.ca>
> Sent: Friday, April 29, 2022 1:20 PM
> To: Todd, James <todd.44 at osu.edu>
> Cc: Brian Timney <timney at uwo.ca>; Johnson, Chris A
<chris-a-johnson at uiowa.edu>;
> vabillock <vabillock at att.net>; cvnet at mail.ewind.com <cvnet at mail.ewind.com>;
> visionlist at visionscience.com <visionlist at visionscience.com>
> 
> As much as I hate to point out your grammatical error, Todd, I shall. The
> sentence toward the end stating " none of them were" should be " none of
> them was" because the subject is singular. Sent from Terri´s iPhone