I know that "ropa" is a collective noun, and it's the way to express clothes/clothing.
But I have 2 questions related to the usage of this always-singular noun =
What are the possible cases where it's not "ropa" anymore?
- In some dictionaries, we find "ropas". It's rare, but it's given for instance in sentences like:
Las ropas de hombre no son nada nuevo para mí.
So, that would be the rule for the use of this rare "ropas" word?
(Source: see in "examples" here: https://www.spanishdict.com/translate/ropas)
Edit: "ropas" seem to exist in Spanish, not only colloquially, as a search with Google books give many examples:
Alonso de Freylas, María Dolores Rincón González - 1999
Las ropas de seda se perfumarán como las piezas de seda
- If I wanted to mean a single piece of clothing, in a non ambiguous way? How?
I would need also a precision about the use of una vs zero-article.
If I say "Quiero ropa", could it be also "Quiero una ropa", as "una" means an unspecified quantity?