§ 23. The pronoun one in all of its uses refers exclusively to

persons or things that are countable.

The pronoun one is used as a noun pronoun and as an adjective

pronoun.

As a noun pronoun, it can have the plural form ones and the

form of the genitive case one's. Besides, as has been said above

(see § 8 above), the reflexive pronoun oneself is formed from it.

As an adjective pronoun one is invariable.

One has many various uses in English.

1) It is used to stand for 'people' or 'I or any person in my po

sition'. In other words, it refers to nobody in particular.

e.g. One can't be too careful in matters like this.

He was very young, not more than twenty-three or four, as

indeed one could see at a glance. The sea was so smooth,

so luminous that when one stared at

it for long one could no longer distinguish, for a moment

or two, the shape of things. His sincerity excited one's

sympathy. It's not what I should have chosen for my last

years, but one

no longer makes one's life when one is old. Life is made

for one.

Note. Care should be taken not to use one too often in the sentence because it

would make the sentence stylistically clumsy (see the last example above).

For example, the sentence When one is given one's choice of courses of action,

any of which would be to one's disadvantage, one often has difficulty in deciding

what one ought to do should be better expressed in either of the following ways:

a) When someone is given his choice of courses of action, any of which would be

to his disadvantage, he often has difficulty in deciding what he ought to do.

b) When you are given your choice of courses of action, any of which would be to

your disadvantage, you often have difficulty in deciding what you ought to do.

Note that you in the last sentence above applies to no particular person and is

used with indefinite meaning in which it is more common than the pronoun one.

(See also "Pronouns", § 3.)

2) One may have the meaning of 'a person'.

e.g. He is not one to be easily frightened. He is not one to fall for

her charms. One who paints ought to know a lot about

perspective. There was a look in his eyes of one used to

risking his life. Do you want to be the one to spoil all that?

3) One is often used for contrast with other, in which case it

preserves some of its numerical meaning.

e.g. The brothers are so alike that I sometimes cannot tell one

from the other. By the way, here are the two duplicate

keys to the gate —

I'll take one, the other key you'd better keep yourself.

She smiled as one intellectual to another. According to

Jim, life was one damn thing after another.

4) One, in combination with nouns denoting time, is used to

express some vague time.

e.g. One day he'll understand his mistake. I'll speak to him one of

these days. One Friday night my mother and father talked

for a long

time alone. One Summer evening I went for a stroll

in the park.

5) One is used with the meaning of 'only' or 'single'.

e.g. Your father is the one man who can help you now.

This is the one thing we can feel certain about., This

is the one way to do it. No one man can do it.

6) Last but not least, one is used as a prop-word, i.e. as a sub

stitute for a previously mentioned noun. It helps to avoid the rep

etition of the same noun.

e.g. Trams were passing us, but my father was not inclined to

take one. Will you show me your pictures? I might feel like

buying one.

If the prop-word one is preceded by an adjective, an article

must be used with it.

e.g. No, that's not their car. Theirs is a blue one.

The new vicar was less cultivated than the old one.

The prop-word one can be used in the plural.

e.g. I prefer red roses to white ones.

"Which biscuits would you like?" "The ones with chocolate

on them."

The prop-word one (ones) may also be used in combination with

other pronouns, such as this (these), that (those), which, each, every

and other as well as ordinal numerals (e.g. first, second, etc.).

e.g. If you will take this chair, I'll take that one.

I've never seen such big tulips as these ones.

Here are some books for you to read. Which one would you

choose?

There were several houses in the street, each one more expensive

than the other.

If you don't like this magazine, take another one.

My house is the first one on the left.

There are certain restrictions on the use of the prop-word one:

a) one is not used after own,

e.g. I won't go by your car. I'll use my own.

b) one is normally not used after a superlative or comparative

adjective preceded by the definite article,

e.g. The English climate is often said to be the most unpredictable

in the world.

Of all the runners my brother was the swiftest.

Of the two armchairs I chose the harder.

Note. Note that the prop-word one is possible when most is used in the meaning

of 'very', 'extremely'.

e.g. His collection of stamps is a most valuable one.

c) one is not used after cardinal numerals,

e.g. I have only one friend but you have two.

d) one is to be avoided in formal or scientific English.

Note the idiomatic uses of one in the following sentences:

e.g. He was a man that was liked by one and all. (= by everybody)

The sky was gently turning dark and the men began to depart

one after the other. (= in succession, not together)

Would you like me to bring them one by one, sir? (= singly,

one at a time, not together)

No, I won't go with you. For one thing, I am very busy at

the moment. (= for one reason)

The little ones always know a good man from a bad one.

(= children)

It isn't the pretty ones that make good wives and mothers.

(= pretty girls)