Why we send ‘congratulations’ but not ‘congratulation’
Why is congratulations always plural? Constructions like “Congratulation on your promotion!” or “Your team won – congrat!” just sound wrong. This question has a simple answer and a more complicated one. Let’s get into the weeds first.
Some grammarians put on the, words that occur only in the plural, like , , and . But while et al. really don’t have singular forms – one would never say “I bought a trouser” – does, as in the phrase “a typical congratulation takes the form of ...” for example. I would argue that the real issue is whether is a count noun or a noncount noun.
