• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • IELTS online course
  • Articles & lessons
    • Grammar & vocabulary lessons
    • IELTS preparation
    • British culture
    • All articles and lessons
  • About
  • Contact
Crown Academy of English

English lessons and resources

You are here: Home / English lessons / English nouns that only have a plural form

English nouns that only have a plural form

16th November 2018 by Andrew 4 Comments

Certain English nouns only have a plural form. The form is always plural. Never singular.

There are 3 types of nouns where the form is always plural:

  1. Certain articles of clothing.
  2. Certain tools or instruments.
  3. Other types.

Let’s look at each type in detail.

Certain articles of clothing

The following articles of clothing only have a plural form:

trousers
knickers
pyjamas
shorts
tights
pants

Examples:

trousers
I like your trousers. correct
I like your trouser. wrong

shorts
by John Kasawa | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Where are my shorts? correct
Where are my short? wrong
Where is my short? wrong

Certain tools and instruments.

The following tools and instruments only have a plural form:

headphones
scissors
sunglasses
binoculars
glasses

Examples:

headphones
Can I borrow your headphones? correct
Can I borrow your headphone? wrong

man sunglasses

Where did you buy your sunglasses? correct
Where did you buy your sunglass? wrong

“pair of”

We use the following structure for ONE unit (singular) of the clothes and tools previously mentioned:

“pair of” + noun

Examples:

I need a pair of shorts. correct
I need a short. wrong
I need a shorts. wrong

pair of glasses

I only have one pair of glasses. correct
I only have one glass. wrong
I only have one glasses. wrong

“pairs of”

We use the following structure for several units (plural):

“pairs of” + noun

Examples:

3 pairs of shorts
by John Kasawa | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I am going to buy 3 pairs of shorts. correct
I am going to buy 3 shorts. wrong

pairs of tights

Here are lots of pairs of tights. correct

Other nouns with only a plural form

belongings
Meaning: Personal things that belong to you. (bag, hat, glasses, scarf)
Example:
Teacher: Do not leave your belongings in the classroom.

savings
Meaning: Money in your bank account. You are saving the money for the future.
Example:
I spent my savings on a new car.

clothes
Meaning:  General word for a collection of articles of clothing.
Example:
His clothes are dirty.

stairs
Example:
To go to the first floor, you can take the stairs.

More lessons

IELTS complete guide (WITH EXAMPLE QUESTIONS)
Past continuous tense – English grammar lesson
Countable and uncountable nouns | English grammar
Plural forms of English nouns
Modal verb COULD – Form, use and meaning
Private online English lessons

English video lesson

Filed Under: English lessons

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Zulfiqar says

    17th November 2018 at 3:25 pm

    Your Site is really fantastic. I cannot afford your fee , otherwise your way of teaching is excellent.

    Reply
  2. Nandani says

    8th July 2020 at 6:11 pm

    Thanks, I took many nouns from different websites but I found your best one!!!!!

    Reply
  3. Kunal says

    14th July 2020 at 4:13 am

    Noun that are used in always plural from

    Reply
  4. Emmanuel P. Suah says

    4th July 2021 at 4:35 am

    Your site is a great resource for teachers- especially non-native speakers.

    I especially enjoy the differences between standard British English and standard American English in many of your lessons.

    I wish I could afford to pay for some of your online programs!

    I have a burning desire to learn the English language with references to both national standards

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Online English lessons

IELTS online course
English lessons with a native English teacher

Recent articles & lessons

doctor

The difference between practice and practise

4th June 2019

peas on spoon

“a little” and “a few ” to describe quantity

30th May 2019

graduation

Difference between “finally”, “at last”, “lastly” and “in the end”

22nd May 2019

maths symbols

Maths symbols and operations – English vocabulary

8th May 2019

people meeting

BACK as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb

29th April 2019

Online English lessons

English lessons with a native English teacher

IELTS tips

IELTS complete guide

IELTS complete guide (WITH EXAMPLE QUESTIONS)

1st September 2017

Bar Chart

Advice for IELTS writing task 1

19th July 2017

Smiling girl

IELTS speaking advice

18th July 2017

IELTS student Tatjana

How to pass the IELTS with a band 8

9th May 2017

IELTS student Andreea

How to get a band 8 in the IELTS

9th May 2017

Ad





More lessons

In, on and at | Prepositions of place

24th July 2015

Money

“can afford something” | English vocabulary

26th July 2015

Time

Prepositions of time “by” and “until”

28th June 2016

They play football every week.

Present simple tense in English

30th June 2016

She is eating an apple

The present continuous tense in English

1st July 2016

fishing

The ing form of English verbs

1st July 2016

Footer

Affiliate disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Additionally, CrownAcademyEnglish.com participates in other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission from purchases made through our links.

Follow us on social media

Crown Academy of English on YouTube Crown Academy of English on Twitter

Privacy policy

Privacy policy