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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Which sentence is correct?

That is a pair of glasses
or
Those are a pair of glasses
  

Top answer

That is a pair of glasses -- grammatically correct and normal. Those are a pair of glasses -- might be said by a native speaker influenced by the notional plurality of glasses.

— Mister Micawber

  • That is a pair of glasses -- grammatically correct and normal.
  • Those are a pair of glasses -- might be said by a native speaker influenced by the notional plurality of glasses.
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12 Answers
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That is a pair of glasses -- grammatically correct and normal.
Those are a pair of glasses -- might be said by a native speaker influenced by the notional plurality of glasses.
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Do you mean "Those are a pair of glasses" is a grammatically incorrect sentence?
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Yes. Those are glasses is OK and That is a pair is OK.

Or: Those are scissors / That is a pair of scissors. These are pants / This is a pair of pants.
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Mister MicawberYes. Those are glasses is OK and That is a pair is OK.

Or: Those are scissors / That is a pair of scissors. These are pants / This is a pair of pants.
In comparison, however,

Those are a couple of tigers.

There are a number of people.

Above two sentences are grammatically correct, right?
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Yes. And 'That is the number of people.' You are now into various other S-V concord concerns.

Glasses, scissors and pants are called 'summation plurals'. Number contrast is achieved by means of 'a pair of'. Thus 'a pair of glasses' refers to one item, while 'two pairs of glasses' refers to two items. ( I paraphrase Quirk, CGEL.)
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Mister Micawber
Glasses, scissors and pants are called 'summation plurals'. Number contrast is achieved by means of 'a pair of'. Thus 'a pair of glasses' refers to one item, while 'two pairs of glasses' refers to two items. ( I paraphrase Quirk, CGEL.)
If I understand this correctly, grammatically correct sentences should be

That is a pair of gl
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Yes, but you can also say 'that is a pair of tigers'. It depends on whether you are focussed on one pair or two tigers.
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Mister MicawberYes, but you can also say 'that is a pair of tigers'. It depends on whether you are focussed on one pair or two tigers.
So to summarize,

That is a pair of glasses. (grammatically correct)

Those are a pair of glasses. (grammatically incorrect)

That is a pair of tigers. (grammatically correct: speaker's focus is on the
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Yes, except that it's not really a rule but a guideline, since many would probably say 'Those are a pair of glasses' (notionally correct). You do see, I hope, that you can have one tiger but not one glass – that is the only real point to be taken from this.
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Mister Micawberyou can have one tiger but not one glass – that is the only real point to be taken from this.
No, the real point of my question was wheather "a pair of (plural noun)" should be treated as singular or plural.

According to you, it depends on the properties of the plural noun.

Thus

That is a pair of glasses.

Thos
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