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As a determiner, the word??one??is sometimes used before a proper noun to designate, particularly, this person: “He delivered the package to??oneRonald Pepin of Colchester.” The article “a” will also function in that position for the same purpose.

Sometimes we use the word??one??as an adjective, as in “I’ll have just??one??scoop of ice-cream,” and we seldom have trouble with that usage. But we also use??one??as a pronoun, and this is where??one??becomes surprisingly complex.

Sometimes the pronoun??one??functions as a numerical expression:

• Those are lovely scarves. I think I’ll buy??one.
• One??is hardly enough.
• One??is purple, the other green.
• The three brothers get along quite well; in fact they adore??one??another.
• One??of the senators will lead the group to the front of the capitol.
• The yellow car is fast, but I think the blue??one??will win.

As a pronoun,??one??can also function in an impersonal, objective manner, standing for the writer or for all people who are like the writer or for the average person or for all people who belong to a class. In the United States,??one??sometimes has a literary or highfalutin feel to it; the more it is used, the more pretentious it feels. In British English, the use of the impersonal or generic??one??is more commonplace and has no such stigma. In the U.S.,one??is often replaced by??you.

• One??would think the airlines would have to close down.
• One??would [You'd] think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.
• The young comedian was awful;??one??felt embarrased for him.
• If??one??fails, then??one??must try harder next time.

When the pronoun??one??is used in the numerical sense, a different pronoun can be used in a subsequent reference.

• We watched as one [of the ospreys] dried??its??feathers in the sun.
• One [driver] pulled??her??car over to the side.

However, it is generally regarded as a bad idea to mix the impersonal or generic pronoun??one??with another pronoun, especially in the same sentence, as in “If one fails, then??he/you??must simply try harder.”

One‘s Reflexive and Possessive Forms

In the United States, the possessive and reflexive forms of??one????”??one’s??and??oneself????” are often replaced by other pronoun forms. In British English, they are commonplace:

• One must be conscientious about??one’s??dental hygiene.

In the U.S. that??one’s??is apt to be replaced by a third-person “his” or (more informally) a second-person “your”:

• One must learn from??one’s??[or??his] mistakes.
• One must be conscientious about??one’s??[or??his] dental hygiene.
• One must be conscientious about??your??dental hygiene.

In formal writing, the use of??your??in that last sentence ??” in either American or British English ??” would be regarded as too casual or even sub-standard. On the other hand, the problem with using “his” is obvious: it runs counter to the tendency to remove gender bias from one’s language as much as possible. Thus, even in American English, this mixture of “one” with “he/his/him” is slowly disappearing.*

Oneself??is used in formal writing and speech as the proper reflexive form of??one:

• If one slipped on this icy walk, one could hurt??oneself??badly.

Notice there is usually no apostrophe used in the spelling of??oneself. The construction??one’s self??is used to refer to the concept of self (in psychology, for instance): “One’s self, according to Freud, is defined by the interactions of the id, the ego, and the super-ego.”

The Plural of??One

As a singular numerical pronoun, we don’t have trouble with??one: “Those donuts look delicious; I think I’ll pick this??one.” But what if I want two donuts? It is possible, sometimes, to pluralize??one:

• I really like the chocolate??ones.
• The??ones??with chocolate frosting have cream fillings.
• Are these the??ones??you want?
• Do you want these??ones?

When the word??ones??is preceded by a plural determiner (like??these), we usually drop the??ones??and the determiner turns into a??demonstrative pronoun: “Do you want??these?”

The phrases “one in [plural number]” and “more than one” always take a singular verb:

• One in four dentists??recommends??this toothpaste.
• One out of every five instructors??gets??this question wrong.
• There??is??more than one reason for this.
• More than one lad??has??lost his heart to this lass.

The “one” in the phrase “more than one” apparently controls the number of the verb. It is probably wise not to attempt to divine some of the mysteries of the English language.

One of those [plural noun] that is/are ???

“One is one and all alone and ever more shall be so,” goes the old Christmas song, but the fact that the singular??one??needs a singular verb can lead to confusion. In a recently published collection of language columns by William Safire,??No Uncertain Terms,??he wrote the following sentence (page 336):

“Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” is one of those phrases that sounds as if it comes out of Kipling.

The sentence caused considerable stir (as such things go), for the verb “sounds” should really relate to the plural “phrases,” not the singular “one.” The sentence should probably read (underlining things for our purpose):

“Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” is one of those??phrases??that??sound??as if??they??came out of Kipling.

The rare device for figuring out which verb to use in this construction is as follows: turn the sentence inside out:

Of those phrases that sound as if they came out of Kipling, “conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman” is one.

In this situation, the subject of the subordinate clause ??” usually a??who??or a??that????” will refer to the plural noun in the preceding prepositional phrase (not the??one??before it) and require a plural verb to follow.

There is a possible exception, however. In Burchfield’s??New Fowlers*,??we find this example:

“Don’t you think,” said Bernard, “that Hawaii is one of those places that??was??always better in the past.” (from David Lodge, 1991; my underline)

Burchfield adds, “A plural verb in the subordinate clause is recommended unless particular attention is being drawn to the uniqueness, individuality, etc., of the??one??in the opening clause.” In an earlier note, Burchfield writes: “Exceptions [to the rule that we use the plural verb] occur when the writer or speaker presumably regards??one??as governing the verb in the subordinate clause,” and he gives another two or three examples, including “I am one of those people who??wants??others to do what I think they should.”

*The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage??edited by R.W. Burchfield. Clarendon Press: Oxford, England. 1996. Used with the permission of Oxford University Press. p. 551.

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