A pair of trousers

[Yourjones]

Hi,

Do I have to say "There is a pair of trousers on the bathroom counter. THEY need cleaning"? Can't I say "It needs cleaning?" In spoken English?

Thanks.

 

[5jj]

I'd probably say 'they'.

 

[Tdol]

In spoken English, you can say many things. It could sound more like a slip of tongue than an error, but it wouldn't sound natural to me.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes - I think 'they' would be the much more common reference. I think the plural 's' of trousers makes us use a plural pronoun, even though the noun (a pair) is singular.

Often, with phrases like this, such as 'a group of people' or 'a set of saucepans', we use the plural form of the verb - 'are'- despite the noun phrase being singular. I used to think that this shows that the speaker conceives the thing to be plural in nature. Similarly, we say things like 'the police are coming' and 'Chelsea are beating Liverpool'.

However, in the case of 'a pair of trousers', I guess that most people would consider this as a single item, so therefore the choice of 'they' doesn't make sense. Maybe, as I said, the presence of 's' overrides the concept of singularity in the speaker's mind.

Any further thoughts on this?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have no idea why we say "pair of pants" or "pair of trousers". That is what doesn't make sense. But using "they" makes sense to me. We normally use the plural pronoun to describe them. In AmE English we use "the police" as a plural noun, but we would say Chicago is beating New York. And, as Alan Sherman once sang in the song "One Hippopotami", half a pair of scissors is a "single scis". ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umlBrQoG6xk

 

[jutfrank]

Good song! Thanks for the link.

 

[5jj]

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5jj

 

[Raymott]

'It' would sound very strange in AusE. I can't imagine it being used.

 

[Roman55]

However, in the case of 'a pair of trousers', I guess that most people would consider this as a single item, so therefore the choice of 'they' doesn't make sense. Maybe, as I said, the presence of 's' overrides the concept of singularity in the speaker's mind.

Any further thoughts on this?

I am not a teacher.

It is exactly the same as a pair of glasses, which are always plural even though the grammatical subject is a pair.

Admittedly, there are two lenses but then again there are two legs in a pair of trousers.

 

[Raymott]

Admittedly, there are two lenses but then again there are two legs in a pair of trousers.

And there are two sleeves on a shirt.