Nobody vs. None

indefinite pronouns negative pro-forms no nobody none

Is there a difference between the words 'none' and 'nobody'? Can they be used interchangeably? Here, we will go through these two words.

"Nobody" vs. "None" in the English Grammar

What Is Their Main Difference?

The main difference between 'nobody' and 'none' is that 'nobody' is refers to humans, but 'none' can refer to both humans and things.

I was looking for some books about Persia but found none.

(Referring to things)

I met many new people in the party, but none were from my country.

(Referring to people)

Their Second Difference

Another difference between 'nobody' and 'none' is that 'nobody' has no frame of reference, but 'none' does.
When we use 'none', we have a frame of reference, meaning we have a group of people or things in our mind and 'none' means no person or thing from that particular group.

Although they were good students, none had passed the test.

'None' refers to a specific group of good students (frame of reference).

'Nobody' as an indefinite pronoun, means no person, 'no one'. It is the negation of the pronoun 'somebody'.
We use 'anybody' to address a group of several people, but it is not a specific group of people (it can be anybody from any group of people).

Nobody called that day.

The speaker does not have any particular group of people in mind (no frame of reference).

'None' means 'not any (one) of' a given number or group of things.

None of the people at the party talked to Sarah.

They Are Both Negative Markers

'None' and 'nobody' are both negative makers, meaning they do not need another negative word in a sentence.

We bought two pairs of shoes and they bought none. (Not ...and they ~~didn't~~ ~~buy~~ ~~none~~.)

Nobody came. (Not Nobody ~~didn't~~ ~~come~~.)

'None': Singular or Plural Verb?

If 'none' is followed by a phrase of 'of', look at the noun to to determine whether to use a singular or plural verb.

If the object of the preposition is singular, use a singular verb.
If the object of the preposition is plural, use either a singular or plural verb.

None of the pizza was left.

None of the guys were/was hungry.

Comments

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