Some of Them and None of Them for Subsets

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to...

• Link a subset back to an already named technical group with some of them or none of them.

• Distinguish a new quantity such as no requests from a subset such as none of the requests.

• Keep the parent group visible while tracing a request through several services.

Idea in one sentence: A partitive reference names a portion of a known group without making the reader rebuild which objects the portion came from.

Core Insight

Imagine a gateway receiving ten requests for a report at 09:00. The backend should process every request that passes authentication. The logs later show two different facts:

Some requests reached the gateway, but none of them reached the backend.

The first phrase introduces a subset of the incoming traffic. The second phrase points back to that subset. Them does not mean “some other requests.” It means the requests just mentioned.

Compare the shorter alternatives:

No requests reached the backend.

None of the requests reached the backend.

None of them reached the backend.

The first sentence makes a broad claim about requests in the relevant context. The second names the parent set explicitly. The third is concise because the parent set is already visible. A good technical note chooses the shortest form that keeps the set and subset unambiguous.

The Small Situation: Ten Requests, Two Hops

Start with a fixed input group:

The operator can write the trace in several ways:

Ten requests entered the gateway. Six of them passed authentication. None of them reached the backend.

Here the second them refers to the six accepted requests, not automatically to all ten original requests. The nearest and most useful parent set is the one established in the previous sentence.

If the operator wants to avoid that shift, repeat the noun:

Ten requests entered the gateway. Six of the requests passed authentication. None of those six reached the backend.

The longer version is useful when two groups are active in the same paragraph. Compression is helpful only while the reference chain remains unique.

The Naive Idea: Every Short Quantity Means the Same Thing

A tempting rule is:

Use some, none, or some of them whenever the exact count is not important.

That rule hides the parent group. Compare:

No requests reached the backend.

This can be a complete incident summary. It does not tell the reader whether the gateway accepted requests, whether the backend was called, or whether the log covers one batch or the whole morning.

Now compare:

Six requests reached the gateway. None of them reached the backend.

The second sentence narrows the zero result to the six-request subset. This matters for diagnosis: the gateway accepted work, but the handoff failed.

The naive rule also creates a dangling pronoun:

Some reached the gateway, but none of them reached the backend. ✗

Some what? The reader has to search backward. Name the parent group first:

Some requests reached the gateway, but none of them reached the backend.

Partitive reference is not a way to avoid nouns everywhere. It is a way to shorten a chain after the noun has done its job.

A Better Model: Parent Set, Filter, Subset

Use three questions when you write a subset sentence.

1. What is the parent set?

Name the plural group before using them:

The gateway received ten requests.

The retry worker examined the failed jobs.

The parent can be introduced with a bare plural noun, a number, or a definite phrase such as the requests.

2. What filter creates the subset?

Describe the event that selects members:

Six of the requests passed authentication.

Some of the jobs were retried.

A few of them returned a timeout.

The phrase of the requests makes the relationship explicit. Once the subset is clear, some of them or none of them can carry the reference forward.

3. What result applies to that subset?

Use the partitive pronoun:

Some of them reached the backend.

None of them produced a response.

With plural count nouns, some of them and none of them normally take a plural verb: some of them were retried, none of them reached. The pronoun them points to plural objects; use it for an uncountable parent such as traffic or data: none of it reached the backend.

Plain meaning:

• some requests introduces or describes an unspecified portion of a group.
• some of the requests explicitly selects from a known group.
• some of them selects from a group already named in the conversation.
• none of them says that zero members of that known group have the stated result.

Technical name:

These are partitive expressions. The word of links a quantity or pronoun to the larger set from which the subset is taken.

Worked Trace: Keep the Parent Set in View

Read this incident timeline:

1. The load test sends ten requests to the gateway.
2. Six requests pass authentication.
3. Two of the six requests are written to the handoff log.
4. None of them reach the backend.

At step 4, what does them refer to? The immediately previous phrase is the two requests. The natural reading is that those two logged requests did not reach the backend. If the intended parent is all six accepted requests, write it:

Six requests passed authentication. Two were written to the handoff log. None of the six reached the backend.

The input is ten requests. The first transition filters them to six accepted requests. The second transition filters six to two logged requests. The output sentence must state which intermediate set failed to reach the backend.

Here is the same trace as a table:

The naive compression is:

Ten entered, six passed, two logged, and none reached it.

This is short, but it could mean the backend, the log, or the gateway, and none has no visible parent. A safer revision is:

Ten requests entered the gateway. Six of them passed authentication, and two of those were logged for handoff. None of the two reached the backend.

The repeated noun two is cheaper than an incident report that sends the reader to the wrong service.

Where It Breaks

The parent group was never named

Some of them failed validation.

If no plural group appears before this sentence, the reader cannot resolve them. Introduce it:

The batch contained twelve records. Some of them failed validation.

No and none of are treated as identical

No requests reached the backend.

This uses no directly before a noun. It can introduce the zero result without naming a previous set.

None of the requests reached the backend.

This uses none of to select zero members from a known set. It is especially useful when other request groups are nearby.

The subset changes but the pronoun does not

Six requests passed authentication. Two were retried. None of them reached the backend.

The nearest antecedent for them may be the two retried requests, but the reader may not know whether the zero result concerns two or six. Repair the scope:

None of the two retried requests reached the backend.

Or:

None of the six authenticated requests reached the backend.

Them points to an uncountable noun

The traffic was compressed. Some of them reached storage. ✗

Use some of it when the parent is uncountable:

The traffic was compressed. Some of it reached storage.

The choice of pronoun is part of the reference model, not just a small grammar detail.

Two Active Checks

Check: Eight jobs entered the worker pool. Three were retried. Which sentence clearly says that zero of the retried jobs completed?

A. None completed.

B. None of the three retried jobs completed.

C. No of them completed.

Think first, then reveal.

Answer: B. It names the parent subset directly. A may be understandable in a short context, but B removes the ambiguity between eight jobs and three retried jobs. C is not a valid partitive form.

Check: The gateway accepted six requests, and zero of those six reached the backend. Which continuation keeps the accepted group as the parent set?

A. Six requests passed authentication, but none of them reached the backend.

B. Six requests passed authentication, but none of it reached the backend.

C. Six passed authentication, but some of the requests reached the backend.

Think first, then reveal.

Answer: A. Them refers to the plural requests. B uses it for an uncountable referent, and C reverses the zero result.

Trade-offs and Limits

Partitive forms preserve a reference chain while removing repeated nouns. They make a debugging trace shorter and show that a later result belongs to an earlier group. None of them is especially useful when the failure concerns a filtered subset rather than every object in the incident.

The trade-off is compression versus scope. A short pronoun saves words, but each additional filter creates another possible parent set. If two groups are equally close, them can become ambiguous. The signal to watch is a reader asking “Which requests?” or “The six or the two?” Restore the noun, number, or qualifier at that boundary.

These expressions do not measure the subset precisely. Some may mean two, half, or nearly all in different contexts. Use the prerequisite track’s quantity vocabulary when the count or threshold matters. This lesson’s job is to keep the subset connected to its parent, not to replace metrics.

Common Confusions

Confusion: some of them introduces a new group

It does the opposite. Them requires an antecedent, and of says the subset comes from that group. If the group is new, name the noun first.

Confusion: none of them means the original group was empty

It means zero members have the stated property. The parent group can contain ten objects even when none of them reached the next service.

Confusion: no requests and none of the requests have the same reference effect

Both can express zero, but the second keeps a known set in view. Choose it when the incident contains multiple request groups or when the previous sentence established the parent set.

Transfer Practice: Rewrite a Gateway Update

Rewrite this update so that every subset has a clear parent:

Ten requests entered the gateway. Some passed auth, two were logged, and none of them reached the backend. No requests were acknowledged by the client.

Assume the intended facts are: six of the ten passed authentication; two of those six were logged; neither logged request reached the backend; and the client received no acknowledgements for the whole batch.

A model answer is:

Ten requests entered the gateway. Six of them passed authentication, and two of those six were logged for handoff. None of the two logged requests reached the backend. No requests in the batch were acknowledged by the client.

The first them refers to the ten requests. Those six narrows the next subset. None of the two logged requests makes the failing intermediate set explicit. The final sentence uses no requests because the claim covers the whole batch, not only the logged subset.

Your rewrite succeeds if a reader can draw the parent-set chain without guessing: ten → six → two → zero. If the chain becomes crowded, repeat a noun instead of forcing another pronoun.

Resources

• [ARTICLE] Cambridge Dictionary: Some, any, no, and none — Focus: quantity expressions, partitives, and reference to known groups.
• [ARTICLE] Cambridge Dictionary: Pronouns: personal — Focus: plural object pronouns such as them and uncountable reference with it.
• [ARTICLE] Microsoft Writing Style Guide: Voice and tone — Focus: concise technical updates that keep scope visible.

Key Takeaways

• Name the parent group before using some of them or none of them.
• Use none of the requests when a known set must stay explicit; use no requests for a broad zero claim.
• Track every filter: ten requests can become six accepted requests and then two logged requests.
• Use them for plural countable objects and it for an uncountable parent such as traffic or data.
• Compression is useful until the reader can no longer tell which subset the pronoun names.