The expressions the British, the Dutch, the English, the French, the Irish,

the Spanish and the Welsh (► 188.2) are also plural, with no singular forms.
In 1581 the D utch declared their independence fro m Spain, ( b u t A Dutchman
came into the shop, n o t A Dutch . . .)
Trousers, jeans, pyjam as (AmE pajamas), pants, tights, shorts, scales, scissors,
glasses, spectacles (m eaning 'glasses'), goggles, binoculars, pliers, and the names
of m any similar objects that consist of two parts are plural, and have no singular
forms. (The equivalent w ords in som e other languages are singular.)
Your jea n s are too tight, ( n o t Your j eemr-ts-. . .)
' Where are m y glasses?' ‘They’re on your nose.’
To talk about individual items, we can use a pair «/(► 121.3).
Have you got a pair o f nail scissors?
Other com m on words which are normally plural and d on 't have singular forms
include:
arms (= guns, etc), clothes (► 423), congratulations, contents, customs (at a
frontier), earnings, fu n d s (= m oney), goods, groceries, leftovers, lodgings, manners
(= social behaviour), the M iddle Ages (a period in history), oats (but corn, wheat,
barley and rye are singular uncountable), odds (= chances), odds-and-ends,
outskirts, premises (= building), proceeds, refreshments, regards, remains, savings,
supplies, surroundings, thanks, troops, valuables, wages.
Congratulations on your new job. ( n o t Congratulation . . .)
She lives on the outskirts o f Cambridge, ( n o t . . . the outsk i r t. . .)
For cases where plural nouns are used with singular verbs and pronouns (and the opposite), ► 128-129.

118 pronunciation of plurals

1 nouns ending in Is/, Izl and other sibilants
After one of the sibilant sounds Is/, Izl, /JV, / 3/, /t j/ and IA3I, the plural ending -es
is pronounced /iz/.
buses /'bASiz/ crashes /'krae/iz/ watches /'w nt jiz /
quizzes /'kw iziz/ garages /'gaera: 3 iz/ bridges /'brid^ iz/

2 nouns ending in other unvoiced sounds

After any other unvoiced sound (/p/, Ifl, /0/, It/ or /к/), the plural ending -(e)s
is pronounced Is/.
cups /клрв/ cloths /klD0s/ books /buks/
beliefs /bi'liifs/ plates /pleits/

3 nouns ending in other voiced sounds

After vowels, and all voiced consonants except Izl, / 3/ and М3/, the plural ending
-(e)s is pronounced Izl.
days /deiz/ clothes /klaudz/ legs /legz/
boys /boiz/ ends lendzl dreams /driim z/
trees /triiz/ hills /hilz/ songs /sdijz/
knives /naivz/

gram m ar «118 pronunciation of plurals