Level: beginner
We use one (singular) and ones (plural):
- after an adjective:
See those two girls? Helen is the tall one and Jane is the short one.
Which is your car, the red one or the blue one?
My trousers are torn. I need some new ones.
- after the:
See those two girls? Helen is the one on the left.
Let's look at the photographs – the ones you took in Paris.
after which in questions:
You can borrow a book. Which one do you want?
Which ones are yours?
- one and ones 1
- one and ones 2
Comments
Hi, Is it possible to use one or ones after a numeral?, for instance
London has 3 advantages, Berlin 2 ones and Paris 4 ones
Hi Illia Zhurakivsky,
One is a pronoun and we don't use pronouns after numbers. So, just as we don't say 'three theys' or 'four yous', so we don't use 'one' after numbers.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi guys ,
Question...
Is it grammatically correct to say for example?
There is no certainty, only adventure. Hope good one's ahead.
I'm not sure is it possible to short IS to 's in this case and if possible explain me could we always short IS to 's like HE IS five , He's five
Hi 19Dd21,
There's no problem with the contraction of is, but the sentence is not grammatical for other reasons. You could say something like this:
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello sir,sorry,how to use could and would,thank you
Hello Nanajiman,
That's a very general question! You can explore the use of modal verbs of different kinds on our modal verbs pages:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/modal-verbs
If you have any specific questions then we'll be happy try to answer them, of course.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Sometimes there can be ambiguity in determining whether the subject is singular or plural. For example, which of the two following sentences is the correct one?
1. One of the items that helps us is the inward attention.
2. One of the items that help us is the inward attention.
In other words, does the 'that' applies to the 'One' or 'the items'?
Thank you.
Hello TCGopal,
Both forms are possible here.
There are many items; one of them helps us and this distinguishes it from the others.
A similar construction would be this:
Only one child has red hair.
There are many items which help us and the speaker is talking about one of them.
A similar construction would be this
A number of children have red hair.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello, I've got a question. Are "ones" and "the" necessary in the sentence below, do they change the meaning in any way (especially "the"):
In my opinion artificial intelligence has more negative aspects than (THE/-) positive (ONES/-).
Hello marcinpagi111
It's not correct to use 'the' here. I would recommend that you use 'ones'. Although it is possible to omit it, most of the time it would be included.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
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