Greek to Czech: one pair of scissors can require a plural noun
Count the tool rather than its blades or its endings
Greek ψαλίδι can name one pair of scissors with a singular noun. Czech nůžky belongs to a class of nouns whose ordinary forms are plural even when they identify a single item. A translation should preserve how many tools the message concerns rather than force the source and target nouns into visually matching number forms.
The Greek dictionary lists ψαλίδι as a neuter noun for the hand tool made of two blades used for cutting materials such as paper or fabric. A singular reference to that tool does not count its two blades as two separate scissors. The lexical item names the assembled tool used in the task.
The Czech Language Institute includes nůžky among plural-only nouns for tools and equipment. Its account explains that such nouns can identify an individual item or a quantity, with counting expressions or context determining the actual amount. A plural-looking Czech noun therefore does not itself show that several pairs were requested.
A shopping quantity differs from the number inside the object
Imagine a Greek stationery request for one ψαλίδι. A Czech translation using nůžky can still request exactly one tool. Changing the intended quantity to two because the Czech form is plural would duplicate the order. Treating the two blades as the source of that quantity would make the same mistake through a different route.
Now compare a request for two separate pairs of scissors. The target needs a counting expression appropriate to that noun class rather than relying on the unchanged plural form alone. The Czech Institute illustrates this general principle with jedny and dvoje housle for one and two violin sets, and with other counting patterns for plural-only clothing nouns. The lesson is that the count comes from a construction, not from treating the noun’s plural appearance as an exact number.
The Greek dictionary also records a mechanical cutting-tool sense and figurative uses. A translation about cutting a budget or censoring a text should not automatically produce the physical scissors requested in a stationery order. First identify the intended sense of ψαλίδι, then decide whether there is a tool to count at all. Preserving grammatical number cannot repair a wrong lexical interpretation.
The same source passage might describe one pair as broken and ask for another. That is a replacement request, not necessarily an order for two new tools. A Czech plural noun can occur in both mentions while the discourse distinguishes the damaged item from its replacement. Follow which item each reference identifies instead of adding the mentions together as a purchase quantity.
For this pair, the most useful check is the practical unit: one assembled tool, two separate tools, or a metaphorical reduction with no tool involved. Greek singular morphology and Czech plural-only morphology can describe the same single object. Once the intended unit and sense are established, express the quantity through the Czech construction appropriate to nůžky without changing what the reader is asked to bring or buy.
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