In some languages the gender is distinguished only in singular number but not in plural. In terms of linguistic markedness, these languages neutralize the gender opposition in the plural, itself a marked category. So adjectives and pronouns have three forms in singular ( Bulgarian , , or German , , ) but only one in plural (Bulgarian , German ) examples mean "red". As a consequence "pluralia tantum" nouns (lacking a singular form) cannot be assigned a gender. Example with Bulgarian: (, "pincers"), (, "pants"), (, "spectacles"), (, "gills").