90 Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. Chapter 4 Grammar Skills Singular and Plural Nouns Nouns can be singular or plural. A singular noun names one person, place, or thing. Girl, carrot, and bus are examples of singular nouns. A plural noun indicates more than one person, place, or thing. Girls, carrots, and buses are examples of plural nouns. The plural form of a noun is created in one of several ways, as shown in Figure 4-4. Irregular nouns are those that do not follow the guidelines described in Figure 4-4 for making plurals. Rather than adding s or es to the singular form, the plural form often has a different spelling from the singular form. In other cases, the singular and plural forms are spelled the same. Examples of irregular nouns are as follows. Singular Plural child children man men woman women goose geese person people deer deer barracks barracks Guidelines for Making Nouns Plural Guidelines Singular Plural For most nouns, add s to the singular form to create the plural form. cat rock football cats rocks footballs For nouns that end in sh, ch, s, x, z, or similar sounds, add es to the singular form. bush box class blitz bushes boxes classes blitzes For nouns that end in a consonant and a y, change the y to i and add es. city baby cities babies For nouns that end in o preceded by a vowel, add s to the singular form. For most nouns that end in o preceded by a consonant, add s to form the plural. For some exceptions, add es. stereo radio memo piano potato stereos radios memos pianos potatoes For many nouns that end in f or fe, change the f sound to a v and add s or es to the singular form. For others, keep the f and add an s. life knife roof lives knives roofs Goodheart-Willcox Publisher Figure 4-4 These guidelines outline how to make singular nouns plural.