Concept Doubt from Manhattan SC Book

[vikrant.rajput.6]

Hello Stacey,

I am following the Manhattan SC 2007 Edition Book for Sentence Correction Concepts. The book, in Chapter - 2, mentions SANAM pronous that can be both Singular and Plural depending on the context of the sentence. The book suggests that we need to look at the "of" construction and check the number of the subject.

for eg
Some of the money WAS stolen
Some of the documents WERE stolen.

Now, this includes NONE also. But when I consult OG, I can see that NONE is treated as Singular irrespective of the context of the sentence.

Please have a look at the SC question no 17 from OG 11. it says
None of the attempts to specify the causes of the crime explains .........

Because this is the portion of the sentence which is NOT underlined, I can assume that there are no errors here.

Now "explains" makes "attempts" singular which according to the book MUST be plural in this context.

Please Help !!!

[StaceyKoprince]

Take a look at the very last sentence on the page that explain this: it says that "none of + plural noun" can take either a singular or a plural.

That's why the OG question isn't actually testing you on this issue... :)

[vikrant.rajput.6]

Thanks a Lot Stacey for your quick response.

A couple of doubts:
1) I do not see the text, that you have mentioned, in my version of the book :(. This is a 2007 edition and I am refering to the text given in Chapter 2, Subject-Verb Agreement Strategy, under the topic "Indefinite Pronouns: Usually Singular". The last lines are the examples of the Pronoun "Some" [Page 30]. Is that text given in some other version of the book?

2) Now that you have clarified that "none of + plural noun" can take either a singular or a plural, what should be the plan of the action if this does gets tested on GMAT?
:: None + Singular Noun == ALWAYS Singular [Can we at least assume this?]
:: None + Plural Noun == Look for other errors in the sentence, else go with "Singular"?

And Thanks again for the response.

[Ben Ku]

vikrant:
The text Stacey is referring to is in the 3rd and 4th editions of the SC Strategy Guide.

"None of" is a tricky construction, and because the rules are fuzzy, it's not likely to be the grammar rule that is specifically tested for on a GMAT SC Guide. None can have two meanings: "Not any," as in "None of the libraries are open." ; and "Not one," as in "None of the food is fresh." If you're using "None of" to mean "Not any," then use a plural verb. If you're using "none of" to mean "not one," then us a singular verb. This is not a definitive rule, but it's another way of thinking about how "none of" is used.