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The concept of countable nouns seems to be rapidly disappearing from modern English (e.g. I'm seeing "the amount of people" with increasing frequency, even in reputable publications, which makes me think of their combined weight).

But before that transformation is complete, I'd like to know about "none".

I tend to use "none" for substances, and "not one" for countable objects. It's a simple and obvious rule, with no ambiguity or confusion.

My conjecture is that this was the original correct usage, but that over time "not one" eventually became shortened to "none", and people started using "none" for countable nouns, leading to the frequent question about whether "none" is singular or plural.

Is my conjecture correct, or was "none" always acceptable for countable nouns?

Ray Butterworth
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    Does this answer your question? Is "none" singular or plural? How can I decide? – Edwin Ashworth Feb 13 '21 at 15:43
  • @EdwinAshworth, it does answer it, but only indirectly. That item, and the item that it in turn is marked as a duplicate of, each do contain an answer to my question. But since those questions weren't about history, that is supplementary material that could in theory be deleted from the answers without making them any less correct. ¶ For my purposes, I have my answer now, thanks. As for whether this question should be retained, deleted, or marked as duplicate though, I'll leave that to you folks that have a better understanding of this site than I do. – Ray Butterworth Feb 13 '21 at 15:59
  • The OED supports "the amount of people": *Amount 2.a. Chiefly followed by of and a plural noun. A number of people or things; spec. (esp. in early use) a total number, the sum total.* (Of course, how you imagine it is down to you.) – Greybeard Feb 13 '21 at 16:14
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    The history of the non-count-noun usage isn't addressed as far as I can see, but Google Ngrams show that 'none of it was' has been in steady use since at least 1800. // The idiomaticity of 'That's one less problem' and 'I can't decide between ivory, off-white or pale straw' has been discussed here at length. English 'rules' are often seen to be only 'rules of thumb' when properly investigated. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 13 '21 at 16:21
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    What concept of countable nouns? – Lambie Feb 13 '21 at 16:53
  • The point that hasn't been addressed here, or in any of the linked answers, is that none is *Negative*. That guarantees that it won't follow grammatical expectations, whether Traditional or Generative. Negatives are just bloody irregular, and the sooner we all get accustomed to noticing when something is negative, the sooner some of us might realize that asking questions like this about a negative is a waste of time. Negatives will behave however they behave, and all we can do is document it. – John Lawler Feb 13 '21 at 19:10

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