- What are the differences between nobody and no one'?
- When am I supposed to use it or they?
- What is the difference between ours and ours?
Now, let us go through them one by one:
Nobody vs. No one
Actually nobody and no one have the same meanings. They both mean not any person.
No one loves me. I am going to die alone.
Nobody listens to the teacher; they are all making plans for the birthday party.
I believe no one is in the hallway.
Nobody is going on the summer trip. They are all grounded.
So what is their difference?
There is only a delicate difference between no one and nobody. Nobody is more common in spoken English and more informal. In fact, no one is majorly used in academic writing.
She seems to have no one.
Nobody truly likes her; they only respect her because she is the boss.
Tip: Remember to use a singular verb with nobody and no one.
Nobody believes her, she has no solid proof.
No one has been acting weird.
Warning: Nobody is written as a single term, but no one is written as two words.
Nobody lives here. (NOT no body lives here.)
No one is trying to make it better; they just argue over old things. (NOT noone is trying to make it better; they just argue over old things.)
It vs. They
It and they are both personal pronouns. They can have things in common and in some aspects they are different.
It as a pronoun is used for replacing singular nouns, so we use a singular verb with it.
Look at the beautiful flower. It is rose.
It has been a hard week for me.
They as a pronoun is used for replacing plural nouns, so we use plural verb with it.
Some students passed the test. They studied hard for it.
Look at the men, they are stealing the money from the blind woman.
It refers to:
- A Non-human but living thing (like plant, tree, etc.)
- A Non-human and non-living object (book, chair, etc.)
Did you see the cat? It was licking its tail.
Have you ever read `13 Reasons Why? It is really an interesting book.
They refers to:
- People
- Animals
- Non-human but living things (like plants, reefs etc.)
- Non-human and non-living objects (books, chairs, etc.)
Bears are kept in a huge cage; they can be really dangerous.
Many criminals claim that they are innocent.
Plural-Only Nouns
With plural-only nouns, we use they when we want to refer to them. However, you might hear them used with it in spoken language.
I have bought a pair of sun-glasses, they are well-designed.
Collective Nouns
You must use it with all collective nouns, unless you want to refer to the individual people of companies, army, navy, nation etc.
Microsoft has started a new project on google assistant app. It is really developing. (NOT Microsoft have started a new project on google assistant app. They are really developing.)
Singular They
Nowadays, whenever we dont know the gender of a person or we dont want to mention any specific genders, we use the singular they instead of he/she, he or she, s(he).
A purse is found, whoever the owner is; they can get their purse back from the information section.
Ours vs. Ours
Remember that there is nothing such as ours in English to show possessions. So, if you have such thing in your mind, delete it now.
Ours' is the first-person plural possessive pronoun in English. It demonstrates that something belongs to us.
I like this room of the hotel, ours is small.
Ours is also used in this structure to show possession and belonging: Of + possessive pronoun
Every single vote of ours is effective.
Ours especially in informal British English can mean our home.
You can stay at ours for a couple of days.
