Spanish has a fun, literal way of naming tools and kitchen gadgets: it combines a third-person verb with a plural noun. For example, a nutcracker is a cascanueces (literally "cracks nuts") and a potato peeler is a pelapatatas (literally "peels potatoes").
These verb-noun compound words are almost always masculine, so they take the singular article el.
Because the noun half of the compound word is already plural and ends in -s, the word itself doesn't change when you want to talk about more than one. To make these nouns plural, you simply change the article (from el to los) or use plural adjectives and numbers.
Notice how the compound noun remains exactly the same in both singular and plural contexts:
| The nutcracker is to the right of the dish rack. | El cascanueces está a la derecha del escurreplatos. |
| We have two new nutcrackers for the party. | Tenemos dos cascanueces nuevos para la fiesta. |
| Which one is the potato peeler that the boss prefers? | ¿Cuál es el pelapatatas que prefiere el jefe? |
| My grandmother has bought several potato peelers. | Mi abuela ha comprado varios pelapatatas. |
| The employee needs the glass cleaner to clean the window. | La empleada necesita el limpiacristales para limpiar la ventana. |
| All the glass cleaners are in the closet. | Todos los limpiacristales están en el armario. |
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