English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
ONE RULE A DAY: PLURALE TANTUM
Your glasses ~is~ fine. Where did you get ~it~ (nonstandard)?
Your glasses are fine. Where did you buy them (standard)?
Your pair of glasses ~are~ fine. Where did buy ~them~ (nonstandard)?
Your pair of glasses is fine. Where did you buy it (standard)?
Nouns with two parts, such as trousers, glasses, scissors, binoculars etc attract plural verbs and plural pronouns. However, when they are used with units of quantifiers such as “a pair of”, they could take a singular verb and pronoun.
GAB
