Plural for "one"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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Hey there,

We are doing online marketing and we have a campaign for a smartphone where we say
“If we send you one, will you review it for us?”

Using “one” fits this case perfectly as “smartphone” is singular.
Let’s imagine we need to come up with a similar phrase for “headphones” or “earbuds”. How would this sound if these were “headphones/earbuds” instead of smartphones?

“If we send you <?>, will you review <?> for us?”

Any ideas?

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Hi Pilsen,

I would say: ‘if you we send you the headphones/earbuds, will you review them for us?’

Headphones/ earbuds are the same as a pair of, like we also say a pair of binoculars.

Hopefully this may help you a bit.

Lets also aks our professionals @Torsten @Andrea

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Thank you very much, Masme
It helped me a lot

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You’re very welcome, Pilsen.

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I agree with Marc, ‘a pair of earbuds’ or ‘a pair of headphones’ is a good choice. Another alternative would be ‘a set of headphones’. Let’s see what @Alan and @Andrea say…

@Pilsen, welcome to our forum. Out of interest, are you from Pilsen or is Pilsen your first name?

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Yes, a ‘set of’, I just wanted to indicate that headphones and earbuds are plural since you don’t listen through one headphone or earbud. You use a pair of binoculars, because you have to use both eyes to get a closer look at something in the distance. I prefer a ‘set of’ like Torsten said.

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Hi there,

Yes, I agree with @Masme and @Torsten.

Just to further clarify:

headphones - without a microphone
headsets - with a microphone
earbuds - rest outside the ear canal
earphones - are inserted into the ear

Using these terms are quicker than saying “a pair of something”.

Hope this helps.
Andrea

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I would recommend ‘pair’. ‘Set’ often suggests a number of items.

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