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No, none and none of

No and none of are determiners. None is a pronoun. No, none and none of indicate negation.

No​

We use no directly before nouns:

  • I’ve got no time to waste.
  • There are no people I recognise here.
  • She says she has no friends.

None​

None is the pronoun form of no. None means ‘not one’ or ‘not any’. We use it as a pronoun to replace countable and uncountable nouns. We use it as subject or object:

  • Slorne stared … and seemed to try to find some strength which would let her speak. But none came. (No strength came.)
  • My mother had two brothers. My father had none. (My father didn’t have any brothers.)
  • A: What reasons did he give?
  • B: None.

When none is the subject, the verb is either singular or plural depending on what it is referring to.

  • I’m always looking for inspiration. None ever comes.
  • She’s always looking for ideas. None ever come.
warning

We don’t use none where we mean no one or nobody:

  • They had a wonderful time and luckily no one was injured.
  • Not: … and luckily none was injured.

None of​

We use none with of before the, demonstratives (this, that), possessives (my, your) or pronouns:

  • None of his old friends knew what had happened to him.
  • It doesn’t matter. None of it was your fault.

We don’t use none of when there is already a negative word (not, n’t) in the clause:

  • She doesn’t remember any of us.
  • Not: She doesn’t remember none of us.
warning

When we are referring to two things or people, we use neither of rather than none of:

  • We sat down at the table, just the two of us. He carried on eating his food. Neither of us said anything.
  • Not: None of us said anything.

In formal styles, we use none of with a singular verb when it is the subject. However, in informal speaking, people often use plural verbs:

  • None of that surprises me.
  • Indeed, none of his novels is well shaped or well written.
  • None of the products have been tested on animals and all the bottles are recyclable. (informal)

Typical error​

We don’t use none directly before nouns. We use no + noun or none of + noun:

  • No children in my group caused any trouble. (or None of the children in my group …)
  • Not: None children in my group …
See also
  • No or not?