None of my friends is/are going on this trip

[tufguy]

1) None of my friends is going on this trip.
2) None of my friends are going on this trip.

Are these both correct?

 

[5jj]

Old codgers like me consider only the first correct. I suspect the majority of native speakers these days use the second.

 

[jutfrank]

Middle-aged whippersnappers like me might like to argue a semantic difference, glossing 'none' as having a speaker meaning of 'not any' rather than 'not one', therefore requiring a plural agreement.

On the other hand, I think the main difference might be register, where the singular agreement sounds completely at home in more formal registers only. As for my own usage, I would definitely use 'are' in my daily speech with direct colleagues, students, and friends, and I'll guess that's also the case for the vast majority of speakers generally.

 

[Annabel Lee]

I'm comfortable with either the singular or the plural here, but the singular usage is one that I acquired through effort.

I'm wondering about tag questions. With the plural, we'd use "are they?" What about with the singular? Would it be "is he?"

None of them are going, are they?​

None of them is going, is he?​

 

[SoothingDave]

If "None of them is going, is he?" is right, then I don't mind being wrong.