Some compliment nouns are always plural, but other have singular forms - why?

Question

Some compliment nouns like congratulations, best wishes, thanks, or cheers are always plural in form, but I have seen singular forms like "congratulate  them" or "thank them".
In these 'thank' and 'congratulate' are singular. Why?
Does 'cheers' or 'best wishes' also have singular form?

Lawrence · Accepted Answer

The word congratulate in the phrase "congratulate them" acts as a verb, not a noun.

As a verb, congratulates is not the plural of congratulate. The trailing "s" signifies singular agreement, and the form without a trailing "s" signifies plural agreement:

Jack (singular) congratulates Jill.
They (plural) congratulate each other.

Likewise for cheer and wish.

Some compliment nouns are always plural, but other have singular forms - why?

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