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Plural of Glasses

by Craig Shrives

The Quick Answer

Use "pair of glasses" for the singular and "pairs of glasses" for the plural.

The Plural of Glasses

"Glasses" (meaning spectacles) is always a plural word. It has no specific plural form. We put "pair of" or "pairs of" in front of the word "glasses" to give it its singular and plural form.

For example:

One pair of glasses
Two pairs of glasses

Most of my childhood is a big blur, 'cause I needed better glasses.
I look most like myself when I'm wearing my black, nerdy engineering glasses.

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The Standard Rules for Forming the Plurals

The table below shows the standard rules for forming the plurals of nouns in English.

Type	Example of Type	Forming the Plural	Plural
Most Nouns	cat scythe	add s	cats scythes
Noun Ending s, sh, ch, x or z	bus dress	add es	buses dresses
Nouns ending [consonant] o	mango zero tomato	add either s or es (There are no rules for this - you have to know.)	mangoes or mangos zeros tomatoes
Nouns ending [vowel] o	patio ratio	add s	patios ratios
Nouns ending [consonant] y	story penny	change the y to an i and add es	stories pennies
Nouns ending [vowel] y	storey () donkey	add s	storeys donkeys
Nouns ending f or fe	dwarf knife	ves and/or s (There are no rules - you have to know.)	dwarfs knives
Exceptions	goose louse	some nouns undergo a vowel or letters change	geese lice
More exceptions	salmon glasses	some nouns do not change at all	salmon glasses

Why Is There Confusion over the Plural of "Glasses"?

Confusion arises because "glasses" is always plural (even if it's just one pair of glasses). The word has no plural form to denote two pairs of glasses.

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Suitable for: Teachers, advanced students, and business writers.

Description: Published by London's Octopus Publishing, "Smashing Grammar" is the third, and most comprehensive, grammar reference book written by Craig Shrives (the founder of the Grammar-Monster.com). It is divided into three sections: