We all know that English is a bit of a crazy language, so I thought I’d share some of the craziest things about the English language with you. First of all, here are some plurals which can never be singular. Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘to make amends for something’? It means to repair a relationship by compensating for something bad that you did. For example, if I accidentally drop and break a mug while I’m at your house I will buy you a new one to make amends for the one that I broke. So we can make amends for something, but strangely, we can’t make amend. Amends can only be plural, never singular. What about pyjamas, sunglasses or trousers? They can’t be singular either! We can’t wear one pyjama or trouser, and definitely can’t have one sunglass! We can be in the doldrums (which means we are feeling sad or depressed), but never in the doldrums. We can also get the jitters (feel nervous, maybe before an exam or a date) but never get just one jitter. And finally, one of my favourite words. If I break a mirror, it might smash into smithereens, which means lots of tiny pieces. However, we can’t say ‘a smithereen’; just like all the other words I’ve mentioned, it can never be singular. How strange!

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