Learn English Grammar: Single Items, but Plural Nouns!

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid. And the reason that I look like this today is

just so that I can ask you two important questions. In English, do we say: "The

headphones are on the table" or do we say: "The headphones is on the table"?

What do we say? What's right? And second question, do we say: "The sunglasses is

on the table" or do we say: "The sunglasses are on the table"? What's the

right answer? If you're not sure, by the end of this lesson, you will be sure.

Because what's special about this lesson is we're going to talk about plural

nouns that don't seem plural. Because this seems like it's one thing, but when

it comes to English grammar, we actually regard "glasses" and "sunglasses" as

something plural. Let's look at some examples. All right? Here we go.

So, for example, we say: "The scissors are", "Binoculars are", "The headphones

are". Why? Because if you really think about it, there are kind of two parts to

these things. Right? The scissors have two blades, the binoculars... Binoculars

— to see things far away. The binoculars have two lenses, the headphones have two

parts that fit over your ears. Right? Okay. So, therefore, it's actually "are"

even though it seems like it's one thing. Okay? Now, also, when it comes to

certain items of clothing, which you might not realize, and maybe you were

making a mistake with this, and this is kind of a really bad mistake to me. So,

"jeans" is considered... this word is considered plural. So, we say: "My jeans

are blue", "My shorts are", "My pajamas are", "The pants are". Okay? Again,

think about it. These have two parts, right? Two legs. So, it's considered

plural, even though it looks like one item of clothing. I will explain that

part to you in another few minutes. Okay?

Next, another category of words like this, which are plural but it seems like

one is, for example, a team — the Yankees. So, we... if we use the name of

the team, then we say: "The Yankees are" — okay? — "a good team", for example. Or

if we say the name of a band, a music group: "The Beatles are". Okay? I'm

going to tell you when it's a little bit different, but for now, this is the

principle. Okay? And similarly, lots and lots of other things like this, such as:

"the glasses", "the sunglasses", "the stairs". Okay? "The stairs are", "The

fireworks are" — lots and lots of words like this in English, which might appear

to be one thing, but it's actually plural; and therefore, we have to use a

plural verb.

Now, like always, English has exceptions. Right? Okay. So, let's look

at how some of these exceptions work when it comes to this subject. So, for

example, we would say: "These jeans are too tight." That's exactly what I taught

you so far. Right? However, if we refer to the collective word, then we usually

say: "This pair of jeans is too tight." Now we're talking about "the pair". "The

pair is too tight." Okay? But: "The jeans are too tight." All right? So, you

have to be careful what you're... which words you're actually using. The same

way here, if we said the name of the team: "The Yankees are", but "The team

is"; "The Beatles are", but "The band is". Okay? "The stairs are", "The flight

of stairs is". Okay? And so on and so forth. We also say "pair" for many other

things here: "pair of jeans", "pair of shorts", "pair of pajamas", "pair of

pants", "pair of trousers" if you're British. Okay? And so on. Also: "a pair

of binoculars." All right? Now, that's one part of the exception.

Another part of the exception that I want to point out to you is some other

words that are actually singular, even though they have an "s" at the end. I

know, English is crazy, I know. But I'm here to help you negotiate that crazy

path as best you can. All right? So, for example, when we talk about languages or

sports that end in s — that is considered singular; not plural. All

right? For example, we say: "Mathematics is", "Physics is", "Economics is",

"Aerobics is", "Gymnastics is". Okay? So, all of these sports, we said "is".

Also some games, such as: "Checkers is an interesting game to play when it's

raining outside", "Billiards is", "Darts is a popular game in bars." Okay? Now,

these are the basic rules, these are some of the exceptions, and next we're

going to do a little quiz to see how well you've understood these points.

So, number one: "This pair of shorts is loose" or "This pair of shorts are

loose"? Do you remember the rule? What should it be? Well, we have the keyword

"pair", so it becomes: "This pair of shorts is loose." And you had another

clue there, because you had the word "this" — "this" refers to one. Okay?

It's used with... for singular things. Next: "These pants is tight" or "These

pants are tight"? What should it be? Again, you have a clue there. "These

pants are tight." So, again, we had another word there, "these" — "these" is

used for plural nouns. Next: "The binoculars is expensive" or "The

binoculars are expensive"? What should we say? Remember "binoculars"? What you

use to see things that are very far away. "The binoculars are expensive."

Okay? This was one of our examples of plural nouns that end with "s" that seem

like they're one item; but in fact, it's considered plural. Next: "My pajamas is

green" or "My pajamas are green"? What are "pajamas" anyway? "Pajamas" are

what? Like something comfortable that people wear when they go to sleep. They

have a top, they have a bottom. They're called "pajamas". "My pajamas are

green." Very good. I heard you. Very nice.

Next: "Politics is very interesting" or "Politics are very interesting"? Which

should it be? Do you know? Do you remember? Well, this is like an area, a

field, a subject that happens to end with "s", but it's considered, what?

Singular. Good. Just like: "mathematics", "physics", "economics".

Right? Next: "The stairs is dangerous" or "The stairs are dangerous"? "The

stairs are dangerous." Okay. Next: "The goods is on sale" or "The goods are on

sale"? What does the word "goods" mean? "Goods" is a word that we use to refer

to merchandise, things, items — okay? — that people buy and sell. So, for

example: "The goods are" — very good. And the last one, we use this a lot

because... we use this word a lot because we use this item a lot in

everyday life sometimes. So, we should know whether it's singular or plural.

"The scissors is sharp" or "The scissors are sharp"? Very common error. Do you

know the answer? What should it be? "The scissors are sharp." Okay?

And you can stay very sharp in your mind by going to our website at

www.engvid.com to do a quiz on this subject, and also to watch lots and lots

of other videos that have to do with improving your English. And don't forget

to subscribe to my YouTube channel, if you haven't already, to get lots of

other videos, which will help you learn English much faster and much more

easily. Okay? Thanks very much for watching. Good luck with your English.