verb agreement

[zigzag]

Is it "know" or "knows" in "no one but you know(s)..."?
Thanks.

[Dany]

Originally Posted by zigzag

Is it "know" or "knows" in "no one but you know(s)..."?
Thanks.

No one but you know ...... (without 's').
's' is only used with he, she and it.

Best wishes,
Dany

[ian2]

Originally Posted by zigzag

Is it "know" or "knows" in "no one but you know(s)..."?
Thanks.

As a non-native speaker of English, one is not sure which is correct. Of course you can try to find a native speaker for an answer. When you can't find one, the best is still the Internet. Here is what I found:

no one but you know=54 returns
no one but you knows=935 returns

Which means more people use "knows", the difference is big enough to conclude that "knows" is correct.

Grammatically, "knows" is correct, because the word "but" here is a preposition, which means the subject of the sentence is "no one" which is third person singular.

We need native speakers to confirm or otherwise.

[hyd1000]

Hello,,
I want to join you guys.


I think ''knows'' used for he,she and it.

Thanks guys.

[Dany]

Originally Posted by ian2

no one but you know=54 returns
no one but you knows=935 returns

Which means more people use "knows", the difference is big enough to conclude that "knows" is correct.

I don't know where you have these numbers from, but when you look at google you will see that you have

154.000 entries for "no one but you know" "no one but you know" - Google-Suche=
and only
936 entries for "no one but you knows" "no one but you knows" - Google-Suche=


Dany

[Tdol]

Dany, that's the German Google. It should be 'knows' because the subject is 'no one'. You can rephrase it:

No one knows but you
you know but no one

[Dany]

Originally Posted by Tdol

Dany, that's the German Google. It should be 'knows' because the subject is 'no one'. You can rephrase it:

No one knows but you
you know but no one

But when I look in at google.co.uk I get the same numbers.
154.000 for "no one but you know" - Google Search=
936 for "no one but you knows" - Google Search=

I am very confused now

[ian2]

Originally Posted by Dany

But when I look in at google.co.uk I get the same numbers.
154.000 for "no one but you know" - Google Search=
936 for "no one but you knows" - Google Search=

I am very confused now

When you use Google, you have to use brackets. If you just type:

one one but you knows, then you will have tons of returns. But if you type
"no one but you knows" (with brackets), then the number of returns is much smaller.

Again BUT is a preposition. This is very important. In the same way, you say:

A letter together with three books HAS been sent to you. But
A letter and three books HAVE been sent to you.

Words after preposition cannot be counted as part of the subject.

Tdol, you can correct me, if I am wrong.

[Tdol]

Dany, be carefulo with Google results- some of them are for things like 'no one. But you know', which is completely different.