Puzzling Plurals: A pair of…

Posted on August 3rd, 2009 by Debra

Lesson:

The noun that appears after a pair of is not considered during subject/verb agreement. Here’s why: your verb agrees with the singular word pair. Even though pair actually means two, the word pair is singular (as signaled by the article a).

Examples:

A pair of glasses is on the counter.
A pair of jeans costs about $50 at the department store.

Notes:

If use the plural subject and not the expression a pair of, your verb generally agrees with a plural subject.

Examples:

Glasses are on the counter.
Jeans cost about $50 at the department store.

Reminders:

Plurals make a BIG difference in your speech and writing when it comes to four things:

adding, pronouncing, and spelling the –s ending with plurals,
determining the count or non-count status of your noun,
deciding which article to use (if any), and
subject/verb agreement. Do you know that –S you add to your verb when the subject is (or can be replaced with) he/she/it? That’s an example of subject/verb agreement.

Oh, yea, don’t forget! Just because you add an –s to verbs, it doesn’t mean they’re plural. Verbs can’t be plural—only nouns can be plural.

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