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Los escurreplatos están allí, cerca de la nevera.

Los escurreplatos están allí, cerca de la nevera.
The dish racks are over there, near the fridge.
From Lesson 544:Plural compound nouns (los cascanueces)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about Los escurreplatos están allí, cerca de la nevera.

Why is escurreplatos used with los here? Doesn't the word itself already end in -s in the singular?
Escurreplatos is a verb-noun compound, made of escurre (drains) and platos (plates). Words formed this way do not change their ending in the plural. We know this sentence means plural dish racks because it uses the plural article los and the plural verb están.
How would I say 'The dish rack is over there' using this exact same noun?
You would only change the article and the verb: El escurreplatos está allí. The noun escurreplatos stays exactly the same, whether you have one or twenty of them.
Are there other common household items that follow this exact same verb-noun pattern?
Yes, this is a very common way to name tools or devices in Spanish! Other everyday examples include el lavavajillas (the dishwasher), el abrelatas (the can opener), and el sacacorchos (the corkscrew). Just like escurreplatos, they never change form in the plural.
I sometimes want to say cerca a la nevera because in English we say 'close to'. Is that allowed?
No, it must be cerca de. When the adverb cerca (near) is followed by a reference point, it always requires the preposition de. Using a instead of de is a common direct-translation trap for English speakers.
Why use allí instead of ahí or allá here?
In Spain, allí is used to point out a specific, clearly identifiable location that is far from both the speaker and the listener. Ahí would mean it is closer to the listener, while allá tends to imply a more vague direction or a much greater distance.

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