In English, words like "scissors" and "pants" are always plural. Finnish has many of these "plural-only" words (known as pluralia tantum).
When you want to say "one pair of pants" or "two pairs of scissors", you cannot use standard singular numbers like yksi or kaksi. Instead, you must use plural numerals.
Because the noun is in the nominative plural (usually ending in -t), the number takes a matching -t ending:
| Number | Plural form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | yhdet | one (pair / set of) |
| 2 | kahdet | two (pairs / sets of) |
| 3 | kolmet | three (pairs / sets of) |
Clothing and Accessories
For items that come in pairs, such as sunglasses (aurinkolasit) or swimming trunks (uimahousut), use a plural numeral to state how many pairs you have.
| I need one pair of sunglasses for the trip. | Minä tarvitsen yhdet aurinkolasit matkaa varten. |
| Did you say that you packed three pairs of swimming trunks? | Sanoitko, että pakkasit kolmet uimahousut? |
| She bought two bras from the clothing store. | Hän osti kahdet rintaliivit vaatekaupasta. |
Tools and Equipment
Many tools and pieces of equipment are also plural-only words. This includes tweezers (pinsetit), binoculars (kiikarit), and ladders (tikapuut).
| We need one pair of tweezers for this task. | Me tarvitsemme yhdet pinsetit tätä tehtävää varten. |
| I bought two pairs of binoculars so that we can both watch. | Ostin kahdet kiikarit, jotta voimme kumpikin katsella. |
| We have one ladder in the garage. | Meillä on yhdet tikapuut autotallissa. |
Events and Ceremonies
Interestingly, Finnish treats certain events as plural words too. For example, opening ceremonies (avajaiset) and funerals (hautajaiset) always take plural numerals when counted.
| Only one opening ceremony is being organized this week. | Tällä viikolla järjestetään vain yhdet avajaiset. |
| There are two funerals this week. | Tällä viikolla on kahdet hautajaiset. |