Plural Pair vs. Pairs

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Carol, and I’m from Denton, Texas.

Hi, Carol. Welcome to the program. What can we help you with?

Well, I had a question. I was talking to my husband the other day, and what I wanted to find out was, what’s the plural of the word pair? I was telling, he was looking for a certain pair of socks, and I told him later that day, you have six pairs of those socks. And he said, no, it’s six pair. I think it’s six pair, and then he said, it is six pair. And I always thought it was six pairs. And I tried to look it up, and I got all kinds of answers. And I thought I’d call and ask. So is it pairs of socks or pair of socks? Six pair of socks.

Well, let’s handle these socks, Martha. What would you say?

I would say six pairs.

Six pairs, plural, yeah. I can’t even think what I would say because now that we’ve talked about it, I’m self-conscious. I’d have to catch myself saying it to know. And then what about scissors?

Ooh. That’s another thing. I say that all the time. I tell my kids, there’s two pairs of scissors in the drawer, and I don’t know. Get me the scissors, and you mean one unit, one thing, right? One unit, one pair of scissors.

Well, Carol, you are in the majority by far. Most people say six pairs of socks, although, I mean, as you said, it’s a very, very fine distinction. Plenty of people say pair, and traditionally it’s pairs, but, you know. But there’s a concept that they never teach you in grammar class in grade school and probably not in college unless you study linguistics. And this is the idea of notional agreement. It depends on whether or not you think of the things as a unit or not. If you think of two socks as a unit, then you might say, you might say I have two pair of socks.

Okay. I did think about that, but I didn’t. Like you said, you never learn that in grammar class, you know, all the way through high school at least.

Well, so I guess the question is, who wears the pairs of pants in your household? Notice she’s not answering.

Well, it goes back and forth, I think.

Well, that’s great. That’s great. Well, if this is your biggest conflict, Carolyn, I think you’re in great shape. But by far, pairs is the more common.

Right.

Okay. But either one is correct.

Yeah.

Yeah. I wouldn’t put your husband in the doghouse just for saying pair.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay.

Okay, well, great. That’s good news. I’ll continue to say pairs.

Thanks, Carol.

All right. Thanks, Carol.

All right. Thank you very much.

Bye-bye.

Okay, bye.

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