ON THE USES OF ONE

The Uses of One As a determiner, the word one is sometimes used before a proper noun to designate, particularly, this person: "He delivered the package to one Ronald 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 genericone 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." "One" Versus "You" The fine line between formality and stuffiness. Today's topic is one versus you. Guest-writer Bonnie Trenga is going to help us determine the best way to talk in general terms about the average person. Bonnie says, If you want to talk about people in general, should you say, It isnt good for one to be late all the time, or It isnt good for you to be late all the time? One who regularly listens to this show does tend to wonder about these things. Yes, it would be logical for you to wonder. The short answer is that either way is grammatical and acceptable in American English. Both pronounsone and youare what can be called indefinite, impersonal, or generic pronouns (1). But as will be revealed soon, one of these pronouns is more formal than the other, and if you use it too much, you might run the risk of coming across as haughty. The Pronoun One This segment of the show is going to sound rather formal because were going to explain how to use the pronoun one, which is much more formal than the pronoun you. One uses the pronoun one as an impersonal pronoun that stands for the average person or the sort of person one happens to be concerned with: someone in the same class as the speaker, for example (2). When one uses this pronoun, one creates a sense of social superiority. One can imagine high-class snobs saying to one another, One wouldnt want to go to that restaurant because then one would have to mix with the riffraff. It's not the friendliest way of speaking. The pronoun one also comes with a possessive formonesand a reflexive formoneself. One could in clear conscience say or write, One should be careful around ones stove to avoid burning oneself, but then one might sound ridiculous if one said or wrote that. Or one might even be considered bookish and pedantic (3). Despite the drawbacks of the pronoun one, one may occasionally find oneself using it as a substitute for I (4) or for being ironic.

The Pronoun You This brings us to the pronoun you, which youll soon see gives off a much more relaxed air and sounds much more natural than the pronoun one. You is the pronoun you should choose most often, assuming youre not aiming to look down on everyone else. Each time you tune in to this and other Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts, youll probably hear the podcaster using the pronoun you to mean the average person or listener. Caveats When it comes to the object case, theres no rule that one is not allowed, but one guide (5) does recommend that you avoid using one as an object because it sounds quite bizarre. Even the strictest grammarian who wished to be formal would balk at this sentence: When the waiter passes out crumpets to one, one should always thank him. The to one part of the sentence certainly does sound strange. [[AdMiddle]Another problem that may come up when one uses one is that one tends to mix pronouns. One would want to avoid a sentence like While one is reading, he should always wear his glasses. That used to be more acceptable, but now that society is more sensitive about gender bias, mixing pronouns, especially in the same sentence, is not advisable (6). You should use generic pronouns consistently throughout. That solution to the gender-bias problem leads to another possible problem. When youre speaking or writing more than a few sentences that address the average person, you dont want to overuse the pronoun you (or one if you are being super-formal). Your sentences will become monotonous if you use the same pronoun two or three times per sentence for paragraph upon paragraph. You may find yourself wanting to use passive voice in an effort to avoid overusing the same pronoun. For example, instead of writing You should bring your books back to your desk, you could get rid of one you by writing, Your books should be brought back to your desk. That might be a good strategy to use occasionally to add variety, but paragraph upon paragraph of passive writing won't endear you to your audience. Its best to use active voice most of the time, so if youre faced with the problem of monotonous generic pronouns, youll have to be creative and come up with other ways to vary your sentence structure. Summary So, to sum up, although its grammatically acceptable to use one as a generic pronoun, youll probably want to stick with you most of the time. Youll have to be the judge for your particular sentence. Or if I wanted to sound formal, Id say, one will have to be the judge of that for oneself. The "General" Pronoun One

Possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns in English are often confusing--because most of them are very similar in form and one has exactly the same form for both the adjective and the pronoun. In addition to the personal pronouns that are normally used in English , there is also a "general" (or impersonal) pronoun: one. One is very often used as a subject, but it also has a possessive form: one's. One and one's are used in very formal writing. Examples: One cannot always do what one wants. ( = 'A person cannot always do what he or she wants.' / 'People cannot always do what they want.') We believe that one must always try to do one's best. ( = 'We believe that a person must always try to do his or her best.' / 'We believe that people. must always try to do their best.') Special Notes: 1. In conversational language, you*, we*, or people are normally used instead of one: You can't always do what you want. We can't always do what we want. People can't always do what they want. We believe that you must always try to do your best. We believe that we must always try to do our best. We believe that people must always try to do their best. Important: You and we are general. They do not refer to specific people.

2.

One also has a reflexive ("self") form: oneself. This form does not use an apostrophe: wrong: One must sometimes help one's self. right: One must sometimes help oneself.