Pluralia tantum are nouns that only occur in plural form, such as “scissors” and “pants”. They are arbitrary and vary between languages. Tantum singular are nouns that only occur in singular form, such as “information” and “dust”. Pluralia tantum can cause confusion for second language learners due to their exceptions to the rule. The use of synesis is common with pluralia tantum, where the number of the word used does not regularly agree with it.
Un tantum plurale is a noun that occurs only in the plural and has no singular counterpart. End with a plural affix like the “s” in pants and scissors. Tantum is a Latin word meaning “just” and plurale is Latin for “plural,” so the literal translation of the term is “plural only.” It is often referred to as “tantum plurale”.
There are many languages that have plural tantum such as English, Russian, Swedish and Dutch, but plural tantum in one language is not necessarily the same plural tantum in another. Scissors, for example, is a one-off plural in English but not in Swedish where the word “en sax” means “scissors”. The assignment of pluralia tantum appears to be arbitrary. Pluralia tantum are usually countable nouns but with the help of the word “pair” as in three pairs of scissors.
Many, but not all, pluralia tantum denote two-part objects such as trousers or glasses. Similarly, not all nouns representing objects composed of two sides take this form. Bicycle, for example, is a regular noun with both a plural and a singular.
The opposite of un tantum plurale is tantum singular which means that the noun appears only in the singular form. These are usually uncountable nouns like “information” and “dust.” These nouns fall into three categories: mass nouns, such as wood and air; abstract nouns like anger and hatred and collective nouns like fruit and rice.
Plural off-nouns are relatively rare compared to their more regular counterparts. They sometimes appear in compound nouns as themselves such as “arms race” or “jeans maker,” but can also appear as singular in compounds such as “trouser pocket.” There seems to be no motive or reason in their use and this can cause difficulties for the second language learner. Pluralia tantum are exceptions to the rule and therefore their use must be memorized. To the native speaker, their use may seem logical, but in a foreign language it can be very confusing.
With the use of words like scissors or pants, there is no immediate conception of the number. For example, with the command “give me those scissors,” there might be a pair or more pairs of scissors to deliver. Also, it is incorrect to use the reference pronoun “it” in place of pants. “They” should also be used if referring to only one pair of trousers. These are grammatical constructions in which the number of the word used does not regularly agree with it; rather there is an implication of the number. This is what in grammatical terms is called synesis.
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