As of this morning, none of my friends have been able to solve the puz

According to Oxford American Dictionary:

USAGE It is sometimes held that none can take only a singular verb, never a plural verb: : none of them is coming tonight, rather than : none of them are coming tonight. There is little justification, historical or grammatical, for this view. None is descended from Old English nān, meaning ‘not one,’ and has been used for around a thousand years with both a singular and a plural verb, depending on the context and the emphasis needed.

So it is a somewhat controversial issue, and therefore I doubt that GMAT would make this the "only" error on a question.

Option D is correct. Option A and E are not correct as plural verb "have" is used. In option B, usage of tense is wrong. With the phrase "As of this morning" past tense doesn't go well. In option "yet" is redundant. Hence it is option D.

Please refer to the below excerpt from MGMAT SC
=====================================================

There are, however, 5 indefinite pronouns that can be either singular or plural depending on the context
of the sentence. You can remember these 5 by the acronym SANAM.
THE SANAM PRONOUNS: Some, Any, None, All, More/Most
How can you tell if these pronouns are singular or plural? Think about meaning, and look at the Of
phrase which usually follows the pronoun. You may recall that you are generally supposed to ignore O f
prepositional phrases (since they are misleading middlemen). But with the SANAM pronouns, the noun
object of the Of -phrase can help you determine the number of the subject.
Right: Some of the money WAS stolen from my wallet. (money is singular)
Right: Some of the documents WERE stolen from the bank, {documents is plural)
Don’t apply the Of phrase mechanically. None 0f and any of followed by a plural noun can be singular.
Right: Any of these women IS a suitable candidate for marriage to my son.
You are referring to just one woman at a time. Since the usage of these pronouns is hotly contested
among experts, the GMAT is unlikely to test controversial cases.
Note that "not one" is always singular: Not one of my friends IS here this weekend.

==========================================================

KAPLAN OFFICIAL EXPLANATION:

So what's the answer to the question above? It's (D), and here's why:

None is singular (like every or everyone) and have been is plural. Singular subjects need singular verbs, so we can immediately eliminate (A) and (E). As for (B), Has been beats was. Even though they're both singular, there is no valid reason to replace the original verb. Has been is in the perfect tense and, as such, describes an action that began in the past and continues into the present. The beginning of the sentence (As of this morning) indicates that we're dealing with this sort of situation: the friends have been working on the puzzle, still seem to be working on the puzzle, and are not able to solve it. Was describes an action that took place entirely in the past and therefore is inappropriate considering the beginning of the sentence. So much for (B). As for (C), there's nothing wrong with None that would require its substitution with Nor one (and none is an elision of not one anyway). That leaves (D).

An 800 test taker knows that unnecessary changes are incorrect changes when it comes to Sentence Correction questions. He doesn't fix any part of the sentence unless it's broken.

As per MGMAT SC, SANAM pronouns can take either singular or plural depending on the context of the sentence. Here, friends is plural so, the answer must contain 'have' and not 'has'.

As i read in mgmat SC guide SANAM pronouns are either singular or plural depending on the object of the preposition here the object is plural "my friends" so it should be "have" not "has"

IMO, the subject for have been able is "NONE" as "MY FRIENDS" cannot be the subject for it because it is part of the prepositional phrase "of + my friends". So, as none is singular , it will require a singular verb. So, for the given reason option A and E are out.

As for option B, it changes the tense of the sentence by using "was", which indicates that the event completed in the past. But as per the meaning of the sentence in the question, the event is still continuing and hence requires the usage of present perfect tense. So, for the given reason option B is out.

As for option C, it is wordier though not incorrect as not one is same as none. I eliminated the choice because it changes the structure of the sentence and as compared to option D, option C is less preferable. Thus, Option C is out and D is the winner.

Consider giving a kudos, if you think my explanation helped.

Kaplan is wrong here I think. SANAM pronouns, can be either singular or plural. As friends is plural, have should be used.

Non in this context (According to KAPLAN) is plural, and MGMAT SC is correct , None can take Both singular and Plural Verb...

Here is something to clear the concept - https://www.onlinegrammar.com.au/top-10- ... ular-verb/

GMATNinja

Can you please shed the light on singular vs plural here. There is a contradicting rule between kaplan and Manhattan

brunel. / daagh sir.. can you pls explain this question

I have a rather unusual doubt. Can someone pls explain the as of this morning usage with present perfect tense. i am confused coz in the spoken English we often use past tense with as of this _____ phrases, And it's justifed too. Consider this example, "As of last night, there were no arrests.".
Please share your insight

Hello jim441,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, in the example you have given the modifier "As of last night" sets the following action at a point in time in the distant past, however, the phrase "As of this morning" can be interpreted to refer to a point of time in the immediate past, and the present perfect tense is also used to refer to actions that concluded in the recent past.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

Thanks for the quick reply.
Yes i agree that present perfect tense refers to the action concluded in the past and whose effect is still experienced. But in the given question, Option B does't look wrong to me.
how can I eliminate B?

Hello jim441,

To answer your query, as we mentioned above, the phrase "As of this morning" implies that the following action concluded in the recent past, so the use of the simple past tense verb "was" is incorrect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team

The question should be ignored.
'None' can take plural as well as singular verb and options (A) and (D) have only that as the distinction. GMAT will not ask you to choose based on this.

That said, 'as of this morning' will take present perfect tense, not past tense.
The usage of 'this' shows recency and it is better to use present perfect. In your example, 'as of last night,' you are using 'last night' to show past tense and hence, you use past. But it is more common to use 'as of' to imply 'since' i.e. from this point onwards.
As of this morning, I am a manager.

In any case, as I said before, the question should be ignored.

As of this morning, none of my friends have been able to solve the puzzle contained in last week's newspaper.


(A) none of my friends have been able to solve

"None of my friends" is singular, and "have" is plural

(B) none of my friends was able to solve

As of this morning - implies that the event is continuing, so was is incorrect because was makes it past tense.

(C) not one of my friends has yet been able to solve

Not one of my friends is wrong, and on top of that, yet changes the meaning

(D) none of my friends has been able to solve

(E) nobody among my friends have solved

Nobody is singular, and have is plural