Have you ever wondered why some pairs of words are shortened into a single word, but not other pairs? To make matters even more confusing, sometimes the pairs are used differently than in their shortened form (for example, log in and login).
It can be tempting to shorten pairs of words—even when to do so would be grammatically incorrect.
Many writers try to shorten the words no one into a single word, to form noone. If you’re having trouble deciding to use no one or noone, read on.
What is the Difference Between Noone and No one?
How do you spell no one? In this article, I’ll compare noone vs. no one, and I will use the correct form in a few examples sentences. Plus, at the end, I will show you a helpful trick to remember which is which.
When to Use No One
What does no one mean? No one is used in two main ways. It can mean not any person, such that it becomes the antonym of everyone or anyone. The sentences below are correct uses of no one.
- No one wanted to go with me to the school dance.
- The criminal looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had followed him.
- No one has ever crossed over the edge of the world and come back to tell the tale.
- No one at Netflix needs to hit the panic button quite yet, but the streaming service most definitely is not pleased with their second quarter numbers. –Forbes
No one can also be employed with an additional noun, where one ascribes singularity to the noun and no inverts it. This is something of a specialized usage, and could be considered ornate. Here are some examples.
- It was said that no one warrior could defeat him in hand to hand combat.
- No one medication would sooth the patient, so the doctors prescribed several.
This usage is probably more popular in spoken word than in writing.
When to Use Noone
What does noone mean? No one cannot be shortened to a single word. It must always appear as two words. Noone is an error, even though many similar constructions exist in English, like any one and anyone, every one and everyone, and some one and someone. No one cannot be combined into noone by extension of the same rule.
The reason being, among others, the double O is clumsy, as it approximates the double vowel oo, which is a separate phoneme in English. In other words, noone looks like it should be pronounced like noon. Since that’s not the case, it’s better to leave this term separated into two words.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Is noone one word? No, no one is the only correct form of this phrase. It cannot be shortened into noone, and to do so would be an error.
When you can’t decide between noone and no one, remember that noon is a time of day, not an absence of people.
Summary: No one vs. Noone
Is it no one of noone? No one seems like it should be able to be combined into the word noone, such as is the case for any one and anyone. However, noone is not a word.
- No one is the only correct version of this phrase.
- Noone is a spelling error.
You can remember this distinction by using the phrase “noon is a time of day, not an absence of people.” If you’re still having trouble remembering the difference, you can refer back to this article for a quick refresher.
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