Can you say those ones

It is that the whole room has neither expression nor character about it. You must surely have noticed that our English drawing-rooms were very different from these ones. Modern scholars, too, have used this construction. This modern example is from Emerging English Modals , a monograph on English auxiliaries by the linguist Manfred G.

Take these ones, for instance, about the panic that grips Rome as Caesar approaches the city at the end of Book I. The work is a study of how literary texts from the classical world were received by English writers from the Middle Ages to the present time.

Help support the Grammarphobia Blog with your donation. You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed! You'll also get three bonus ebooks completely free!

Try It Free Now. Leave a comment: Cancel comment Name required :. Email address required :. A bystander made clear her disapproval of the use of "these ones" and "those ones".

I am assuming the proper way to say this is "I like these" or "I like those" but is it improper to add "ones"? Hi, Guest. In "I like these" and I like "those", "these" and "those" are used as pronouns, so "ones" is not needed. All four sentences are grammatically correct. It is true that "ones," according to proper grammar should not follow "these" or "those" only because one is a singular object.

If there is a plural number, "one" becomes inappropriate however there are few people I know I live in the midwest US that do not use this construction, as in common speech leaving an object out of a sentence sounds strange or over educated. As it turns out, neither one is correct. Most native speakers will also intuit improper phrasing.

One can find logic in adjusting the singular this one and that one to the plural these ones and those ones. For that reason, you may still find people who will be unaware that saying these ones or those ones is incorrect. If you on the other hand wish to be precise with your grammar, we advise adhering to the shorter words these and those.

If you want more useful advice for precise and eloquent communication, check out our other articles. You can leave us a comment below to share your thoughts as well. You could even suggest a future topic for our team to write about! Advertisement If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.

If it is, why?