Plural of Glasses

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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.

Are You Good at Plurals?

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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.
Another Interactive Exercise
Here are three randomly selected questions from another exercise on plurals, which can be edited, printed to create an exercise worksheet, or sent via email to friends or students.

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See Also

Unusual pluralsPlural forming table Quirks with forming plurals Forming the plurals of abbreviations Forming the plurals of compound nouns