Where to place intensifiers for 'none'

Question

[1] I met none of the Americans in the group who wanted to meet me.

If you wanted to emphasize 'none' with 'whatsoever,' 'whatever,' 'at all,' 'in the least,' 'by any means,' or 'in any way,' where would you place them? Perhaps between 'in the group' and 'who'?

I met none of the Americans in the group whatsoever/whatever/at all/in the least/by any means/in any way who wanted to meet me.

How about 'I met no Americans in the group (whatsoever/whatever/at all/in the least/by any means/in any way) who wanted to meet me'? Better to put them right after 'Americans'? And only 'whatsoever' and 'at all' work too? — Sssamy, Oct 11 '19 at 06:44
May I check your meaning? "I met none of the Americans in the group who wanted to meet me." This means that some of the Americans in the group wanted to meet you but they were unlucky because you were being met by Americans who didn't want to meet you or were indifferent. — chasly - supports Monica, Aug 01 '20 at 13:26

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 10 '19 at 21:12

That would probably be correct but awkward, and I wouldn't say it. These are not so bad:

I met none at all of the Americans ...

I met none whatsoever of the Americans ...

(Your other choices don't work there.) But even better would be:

I met absolutely none of the Americans ...

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 10 '19 at 22:12

If you're going to modify "none", the modifier needs to come immediately before or after it, I think:

I met none whatsoever of ...
I met none at all of ...
I met absolutely none of ...

Putting it between any other words implies that you're modifying one of the adjacent words.

However, I think many of the intensifiers you mention would work better at the end of the sentence. Putting them there would emphasize your certainty/passion in the idea that you met no one.

I met none of the Americans in the group who wanted to meet me, at all!
I met none of the Americans in the group who wanted to meet me, by any means!

I saw nobody there at all. – Colin Fine May 07 '22 at 20:20 — Colin Fine, May 07 '22 at 20:20

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 07 '22 at 21:08

As a native speaker who has done a fair amount of professional writing, I would either intensify immediately before the key idea, namely “none of the Americans.” For example,

I met not one of the Americans, …

A good alternative is to repeat the negation immediately after completing the relevant phrase. For example,

I met none of the Americans, not a single one, …

This is a matter of style and so at least partly subjective, but, although breaking up a key component of thought is an admittedly frequent occurrence in speech, it makes for hard reading and so should usually be avoided. Furthermore, intensifiers like adjectives work most effectively in English when adjacent to the thought to be affected. Word order is so important in a language with little reliance on inflection.

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 09 '22 at 06:31

We've got a little Groucho-ism going on there. Let's fix it at the same time as getting the emphasis.

You can put the emphasis either directly before or after "none."

Of the group of Americans, I met none at all that wanted to meet me.

Emphasizes the lack of desire to meet me within the group of Americans.

Of the group of Americans that wanted to meet me, I met absolutely none.

Emphasizes the lack of meeting.

Rarely you can sneak in a split.

Of the group that wanted to meet me, I met no Americans whatever.

Emphasizes the lack of Americans.

I did meet an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I will never know.

Where to place intensifiers for 'none'

4 Answers4