Editing English plurals (section)

====Plurals without singulars====
Some nouns have no singular form. Such a noun is called a {{Lang|la|[[plurale tantum]]}}. Examples include ''cattle'', ''thanks'', ''clothes'' (originally a plural of ''cloth'').

A particular set of nouns, describing things having two parts, comprises the major group of {{Lang|la|pluralia tantum}} in modern English:

*glasses (a pair of [[spectacles]]), [[pants]], [[panties]], [[pantyhose]], [[pliers]], [[scissors]], [[shorts]], [[suspenders]], [[tongs]] (metalworking & cooking), [[trousers]], etc.

These words are interchangeable with ''a pair of scissors'', ''a pair of trousers'', and so forth. In the American fashion industry it is common to refer to a single pair of pants as a ''pant''—though this is a [[back-formation]], the English word (deriving from the French {{Lang|fr|pantalon}}) was originally singular. In the same field, one half of a pair of scissors separated from the other half is, rather illogically, referred to as a ''half-scissor''. ''Tweezers'' used to be part of this group, but ''tweezer'' has come into common usage since the second half of the 20th century.

Nouns describing things having two parts are expressed in the singular when used as adjectives. Other ''{{Lang|la|pluralia tantum}}'' remain unchanged as adjectives.

{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|a pair of spectacles||a '''spectacle''' grinder
|-
|a pair of trousers||a '''trouser''' press
|-
|clothes||a clothes line
}}}}

There are also some plural nouns whose singular forms exist, though they are much more rarely encountered than the plurals:
{{block indent|{{wikitable
|-
|nuptial||nuptials
|-
|phalanx<ref group="d">In medical terminology, a ''phalanx'' is any bone of the finger or toe. A military ''phalanx'' is pluralized ''phalanxes''.</ref>||phalanges
|-
|tiding||tidings
|-
|victual||victuals
|-
|viscus||viscera
}}}}

'''Notes:'''
{{Reflist| group="d"|close}}