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Is a pair an 'it' or a 'them'?

LizLiz
edited March 2016 in Writing
I want to use the word 'it' to describe a pair of something. Can I?

Comments

  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    I had a pair of apples. It looked lovely.

    :(
  • LizLiz
    Hmmm... darn. but pair is singular. It's very confusing.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    I have a pair of trousers. Do you wish to borrow it?

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Pair is a set of two things; you can have a pair of socks, or two pairs of socks. but pair always refers to a set of two. I wear a pair of ear-rings, never a pair of ear-ring. A pair of socks, never a pair of sock. Therefore pair takes 'they', from what it's a pair of, not 'it'.

  • LizLiz
    A pair of trousers is a beautiful thing. A pair of trousers are beautiful things.

    This is not helping my poem. Grr.

    i shall have to give it up methinks.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    What about triplets? Are they not also beautiful?

    *hides*
  • boredrobotsboredrobots
    I want to use the word 'it' to describe a pair of something. Can I?
    Hell yeah! If it's right it's right, if it's wrong - break the rules!

  • CarolCarol
    What about triplets? Are they not also beautiful?

    *hides*
    Only if the looks department in the genetics is good...

    >:)
  • CarolCarol
    edited March 2016
    or should that be 'are good'? :D
  • Phots MollPhots Moll
    If I had a pair of cakes you could call them it because, by the time you've read this, there'll only be one left.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    A pair of socks is a good thing on a cold day. A pair of socks are good things on a cold day. - prefer the first version.
    I need a pair of socks; they will keep my feet warm. - this refers to the two socks on the two feet.
    A pair of socks makes all the difference on a cold day. - leaving out the feet, it makes sense in the singular.

    Trousers are hard, because they are one garment. I wear a pair of trousers: these trousers make me look fat (for illustrative purposes only, of course).

    The Oxford bods don't help - I've looked it up in four books now and no-one solves the conundrum. I suspect common usage is all in this case (you common usage).

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    or should that be 'are good'? :D
    One department, therefore 'is good'.

  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    Try these:
    http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/pair_1

    https://www.grammarly.com/answers/questions/1692-is-a-pair-of-something-a-singular-collective-noun-or-plural/
  • LizLiz
    I don't come up with easy questions, you know. My ear usually does it, but in this case it let me down.

    Sigh.

    I gave up and drew a birthday card for OH.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    The question was easy, it's the answer that ain't.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    What do you have a pair of in your poem, Liz - if that's not too personal a question? :-B
  • LizLiz
    I am in my study. One computer, two pencil pots, but not a pair - one is a metal cut out with flowers on and the other is Worf from Star Trek. My panda. Lots of award certs. (Pete's). A rebounder. Four bookcases, three 8 foot, one 4 ft. A rising desk and a tilting chair. Dog basket. Notice board. A tapestry and a painting done by my Russian pen friend. Art cupboard. Sewing boxes (3). Some soft toys. A ladder for the top books. Drawing board. Hairy Screaming armadillo shell.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    edited March 2016
    ;)
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    That's lovely, Liz. Very lovely indeed. So lovely, in fact, that I am singing like Snow White and blue tits are fluttering above my head.

    But what do you have a pair of (in your poem)?
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    I have a lovely bunch of coconuts.
  • LizLiz
    *snorts* i wondered why you wanted to know...

    I have a pair of *goes to check* eyes. It is a pair of eyes. For nocturnal purposes.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Well then. That settles it. It's a 'them'.

    *rubs hands together*

    Job done.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Now I am imagining Baggy in a coconut bikini and a grass skirt...
  • LizLiz
    IT is a pair of eyes.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    Well, that's it then. It's an 'it'.
  • ana sana s
    I think you can get away with 'it is a pair of trousers' and 'it is a pair of spectacles', because they are both a pair and a single entity. A pair of eyes operates as a unit to a greater extent than a pair of apples. 'It' sounds better in the context so I would go with 'it'.
  • Mrs BearMrs Bear
    He has a fine pair of eyes. He raises it to the setting sun.
    He has a fine pair of eyes. He raises them to the setting sun. Nope - I'd use them, not it.
    It really does seem to come down to what sounds right each time.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    It was a pair of eyes that had made the glowing spots.

    I think that's a different thing. Ignore me.
    As you were...
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Focus, TN, focus. Eyes. Pears. Windows. Stairs.

    That's Liz's poem sorted.
  • LizLiz
    Can you work in lemur somewhere?
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    A pair of?
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    The eyeless lemur broke his femur.

    I've got rid of the 'pair' problem for you.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Never saw that one coming.
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    You were blindsided.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    On both sides. A pair of. Oh.
  • LizLiz
    I'm trying to describe an actual lemur that doesn't have any disabilities. Of its eyes or legs. Or indeed, of anything.

    This is a strong, normal lemur
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    There once was an 'actual' lemur
    Who was known as a bit of a dreamer?
  • LizLiz
    Anthropomorphisation! How could you?
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    I don't know what came over me...

    *hangs head and dribbles a bit*
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    *stares like a lemur*

    @-)
  • Tiny NellTiny Nell
    That's a nice pair of eyes you have there, Mrs Lemur.
  • Baggy BooksBaggy Books
    Other lemurs dream of having such a thing. Or things. A pair of. Them.
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