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Plural invariable nouns
176. Plural invariable nouns comprise two types - marked and unmarked plurals. I. In the first type the form of the noun itself shows plurality. These nouns are rather numerous. Semantically they fall into several groups: a) names of tools or articles of dress consisting of two equal parts which are joined: bellows, binoculars, breeches, braces, flannels, glasses, pants, pincers, pliers, pyjamas, scales, scissors, shorts, spectacles, suspenders, tights, tongs, trousers, tweeters; These nouns can be made singular and countable by means of a pair of: a pair of trousers, a pair of scissors. Accordingly they are used with the verb-predicate in the singular (this pair of trousers is ...) b) miscellaneous nouns: annals, antics, archives, arms, ashes, the Commons (the House of Commons), contents, customs, customs-duty, customs-house, earnings, goods, goods train, greens, holidays, summer-holidays, manners, minutes (of the meeting), outskirts, quarters, headquarters, stairs, suds, surroundings, thanks, troops, wages, whereabouts, the Middle Ages; c) some proper nouns: the East Indies, the West Indies, the Hebrides, the Highlands, the Midlands, the Netherlands. II. In the second type of the plural invariable nouns the meaning of plurality is not marked in any form (hence the term “unmarked plural invariables”). They are usually treated as collective nouns (собирательные). English collective nouns denote only living beings (family,
police, clergy, cattle, poultry, etc.) and have two categorical meanings: the first - plurality as indivisible whole and the second - discrete plurality, that is plurality denoting separate beings. In the latter case these nouns are called nouns of multitude. Thus, one and the same noun may be a collective noun proper and a noun of multitude.
