INDEX

Nouns || Verbs || Adverbs || Pronouns || Adjectives || Conjunctions || Interjections || Prepositions || Predicates

A NOUN IS A PERSON, PLACE, OR THING

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens

Sung by: Lynn Ahrens

Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

Well every person you can know,
And every place that you can go,
And any thing that you can show,
You know they're nouns.
A noun's a special kind of word,
It's any name you ever heard.
I find it quite interesting,
A noun's a person, place or thing.

Oh I took a train, took a train,
To another state.
The flora and the fauna that I saw were really great.
But when I saw some bandits chasing the train,
I was wishing I was back home again.
I took a train, took a train,
To another state.

Well every person you can know...
(Like a bandit or an engineer.)
And every place that you can go...
(Like a state or a home.)
And any thing that you can show...
(Like animals and plants or a train.)
You know they're nouns
You know they're nouns, oh!

Mrs. Jones is a lady on Hudson Street.
She sent her dog to bark at my brother and me.
We gave her dog a big fat bone,
And now he barks at Mrs. Jones.
She's a lady who lives on Hudson Street.

Well every person you can know...
(Mrs. Jones, a lady or a brother.)
And every place that you can go...
(Like a street or a corner.)
And anything that you can show...
(Like a dog or a bone.)
Well you know they're nouns
You know they're nouns, oh!

I took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
My best friend was waiting there for me.
(He took an early ferry.)
We went for a walk on the island you know,
And in the middle of summer it started to snow when...
I took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.

Well every person you can know...
(Like a friend or the captain of a ship.)
And every place that you can go...
(An island or a sea.)
And anything that you can show...
(Like a statue, a ferry or snow.)
Well you know they're nouns
You know they're nouns, oh!

I put a dime in the drugstore record machine.
Oldie-goldies started playing - you know what I mean.
I heard Chubby Checker, he was doing the twist,
And the Beatles and the Monkees
It goes like this.
I put a dime in the drugstore record machine.

Well every person you can know...
(The Beatles and the Monkees; Chubby Checker.)
And every place that you can go...
(Like a neighborhood or a store.)
And anything that you can show...
(Like a dime or a record machine.)
Well you know they're nouns.

A noun's a special kind of word,
It's any name you ever heard.
I find it quite interesting,
A noun's a person, place or thing.
A noun is a person, place or thing.

VERB: THAT'S WHAT'S HAPPENING

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough

Sung by: Zachary Sanders

Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

I get my thing in action >> Verb!
To be, to sing, to feel, to live... >> Verb! That's what's
>> happenin'!
I put my heart in action >> Verb!
To run, to go, to get, to give... >> Verb! You're what's
>> happenin'!
That's where I find satisfaction, yeah! >> Yeah!
To search, to find, to have, to hold... >> Verb! To be bold!
When I use my imagination >> Verb!
I think, I plot, I plan, I dream...
Turning in towards creation >> Verb!
I make, I write, I dance, I sing...
When I'm feelin' really active >> Verb!
I run, I ride, I swim, I fly!
Other times when life is easy >> Ohhh!
I rest, I sleep, I sit, I lie... >> Verb! That's what's
>> happening!

I can take a noun and bend it...
Give me a noun! >> Bat, boat, rake, and plow
Make it a verb and really send it! >> Show me how!
Ohh, I don't know my own power! >> Verb!
I get my thing in action... >> Verb!
In being... >> Verb!
In doing... >> Verb!
In saying...

(A verb expresses action, being or state of being.)
>> (A verb makes a statement.)
(Yeah, a verb tells it like it is!) >> Verb! That's what's
>> happenin'!

I can tell you when it's happenin'! >> Past, present, future
>> tense!
Tell you more about what's happenin'. >> Say it so it makes
>> some sense!
Oh! I can tell you *who* is happenin'. >> Verb you're so intense!
Hey, every sentence has a subject. >> Noun: person, place or
>> thing!
Find that subject, where's the action? >> Verb can make the subject
>> sing!
Take the subject, what is it? >> What?
What's done to it? >> What?
What does it say? >> Verb! You're what's
>> happenin'!
I can question like, "What is it?" >> Verb! You're so
>> demanding!
I can order like, "Go get it!" >> Verb! You're so
>> commanding!
When I hit, I need an object! >> Verb, hit! Hit the ball!
When I see, I see the object! >> Do you see that furthest
>> wall"?

(If you can see it, man, put the ball over the fence, man! Go 'head,
on! Yeah, alright! What?! He hit it! It's goin'... it's goin'...
it's gone! What?!)

I get my thing in action! >> Verb! That's what's
>> happening!
To work... >> Verb!
To play... >> Verb!
To live... >> Verb!
To love!

LOLLY, LOLLY, LOLLY, ADVERBS HERE

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough

Sung by: Bob Dorough

Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

Hmmmmm... hmmmmm... hmmmmm!!!

(Ready pop?)
(Yep.)
(Ready son?)
(Mmm hmm!)
(Let's go.)
(Let's go!)
(One, two...)

Lolly Lolly Lolly, get your adverbs here!
Lolly Lolly Lolly, got some adverbs here!
Come on down to Lolly's, get the adverbs here!
You're going to need
If you write or read
Or even think about it.

Lolly Lolly Lolly, get your adverbs here!
Got a lot of Lolly, jolly adverbs here!
Anything you need
And we can make it absolutely clear!

An adverb is a word... (That's all it is, and there's a lot of 'em!)
That modifies a verb... (Sometimes a verb! Sometimes...)
It modifies an adjective,
Or else another adverb.
And so you see that it's positively, very, very, necessary.

Lolly Lolly Lolly, get your adverbs here!
Father, son and Lolly selling adverbs here!
Got a lot of adverbs and we make it clear,
So come to Lolly!
(Hello, folks. This is Lolly Senior, saying we have every adverb in
the book, so come on down and look!)
(Hello, folks. Lolly Junior here. Suppose your house needs painting.
How are you going to paint it? That's where the adverb comes in.
We can also give you a special intensifier so you can paint it very
neatly or rather sloppily.)
(Hi. Suppose you're going nut-gathering. Your buddy wants to know where and when. Use an adverb and tell him.)

Get your adverb...

Use it with an adjective, it says much more.
Anything described can be described some more.
Anything you'd ever need is in the store,
And so you choose very carefully
Every word you use.

Use it with a verb it tells us how you did.
Where it happened, where you're going, where you've been.
Use it with another adverb at the end, and even more...
How, where, or when, condition or reason...
These questions are answered
When you use an adverb...

(Come and get it!)

Lolly Lolly Lolly, get your adverbs here!
Quickly quickly quickly, get your adverbs here!
Slowly surely really, learn your adverbs here!
You're going need 'em
If you read 'em,
If you write or talk or think about it.

Lolly...

>> (If it's an adverb we have it at Lolly's!
>> Bring along your old adjectives too, like slow, soft and sure.
>> We'll fit them out with our "l-y" attachment,
>> And make perfectly good adverbs out of them!)

Get your adverbs here!
>> (Lots of good tricks at Lolly's, so come on down!)
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!
>> (Adverbs deal with manner, place, time...)
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!
>> (Condition, reason...)
Father Son and Lolly!
>> (Comparison, contrast...)
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!
>> (Enrich your language with adverbs!)
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!
(Besides, they're absolutely free!)
Lolly, Lolly, Lolly!
>> (At your service!)
Indubitably!

RUFUS XAVIER SARSAPARILLA

Music: Bob Dorough

Lyrics: Kathy Mandary

Sung by: Jack Sheldon

Animation: Kim and Gifford Productions

Now I have a friend named Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla,
And I could say that "Rufus found a kangaroo
That followed Rufus home
And now that kangaroo belongs...
To Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla."
Whew! I could say that, but I don't have to!
Because I got pronouns, I can say,
"He found a kangaroo that followed him home
And now it is his."
You see, "he", "him" and "his" are pronouns
Replacing the noun "Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla",
A very proper noun,
And "it" is a pronoun replacing the noun "kangaroo"!

How common!

Now Rufus has a sister named Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla,
If she found a kangaroo I'd say to you
"She found a kangaroo that followed her home
And now it is hers."
But I can't say that...
'Cause she found an aardvark
That fell in love with her and they're so happy.

And my name is Albert Andreas Armadillo
(No relation to the Sarsaparillas...)
Because of pronouns I can say
"I wish she would find a rhinoceros for me,
And we'd be happy."
You see, a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun.
'Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.

Now I could tell you "Rafaella Gabriela
and Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla and
Albert Andreas Armadillo found
An aardvark, a kangaroo and a rhinoceros.
And now that aardvark and that kangaroo
And that rhinoceros belong respectively to:
Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla
And Rufus Xavier Sarsaparilla
And Albert Andreas Armadillo."
Whew! Because of pronouns I can say, in this way,
"We found them and they found us,
And now they are ours and we're so happy!"
(Thank you pronoun!!)
You see, a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun.
'Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.

Sometimes when we take them all on the bus,
People really raise a fuss.
They start shouting out loud pronouns at us, like:
"*Who* brought that rhinoceros on the bus?" and
"*What* made that horrible noise?" and
"Which one of 'em's getting off first?"
"Who", "what" and "which" are special pronouns
That can ask a question
In the sense where you do not know the name of the noun.

But I know!

I have mine and she has hers and he has his,
Do you have yours?
They love us and we love them.
What's ours is theirs, that's how it is with friends.
And pronouns, you are really friends. Yeah!
'Cause saying all those nouns over and over
Can really wear you down.

UNPACK YOUR ADJECTIVES

Music & Lyrics: George R. Newall

Sung by: Blossom Dearie

Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

Got home from camping last spring.
Saw people, places and things.
We barely had arrived,
Friends asked us to describe
The people, places and every last thing.
So we unpacked our adjectives.

I unpacked "frustrating" first.
Reached in and found the word "worst".
Then I picked "soggy" and
Next I picked "foggy" and
Then I was ready to tell them my tale.
'Cause I'd unpacked my adjectives.

Adjectives are words you use to really describe things,
Handy words to carry around.
Days are sunny or they're rainy
Boys are dumb or else they're brainy
Adjectives can show you which way.

Adjectives are often used to help us compare things,
To say how thin, how fat, how short, how tall.
Girls who are tall can get taller,
Boys who are small can get smaller,
Till one is the tallest
And the other's the smallest of all.

We hiked along without care.
Then we ran into a bear.
He was a hairy bear,
He was a scary bear,
We beat a hasty retreat from his lair.
And described him with adjectives.

>> (Whoah! Boy, that was one big, ugly bear!)

(You can even make adjectives out of the other parts of speech, like
verbs or nouns. All you have to do is tack on an ending, like "ic"
or "ish" or "ary". For example, this boy can grow up to be a huge
man, but still have a boyish face. "Boy" is a noun, but the ending
"ish" makes it an adjective. "Boyish": that describes the huge
man's face. Get it?)

Next time you go on a trip,
Remember this little tip:
The minute you get back,
They'll ask you this and that,
You can describe people, places and things...
Simply unpack your adjectives.
You can do it with adjectives.
Tell them 'bout it with adjectives.
You can shout it with adjectives.

CONJUNCTION JUNCTION

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough

Sung by: Jack Sheldon

Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

INTERJECTIONS!

Music & Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens

Sung by: Essra Mohawk

Animation: Phil Kimmelman and Associates

>> (Cough! Cough! Cough!)

When Reginald was home with flu, (uh huh)
The doctor knew just what to do:
He cured the infection,
With one small injection,
While Reginald uttered some interjections:

>> (Hey! That smarts!
>> Ouch! That hurts!
>> Yow! That's not fair, giving a guy a shot down there!)

Interjections >> (Hey!)
Show excitement, >> (Yow!)
Or emotion. >> (Ouch!)
They're generally set apart from a sentence
By an exclamation point,
Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong. Mmmm...

Though Geraldine played hard to get, (uh huh)
Geraldo knew he'd woo her yet.
He showed his affection,
Despite her objections,
And Geraldine hollered some interjections:

>> (Well! You've got some nerve!
>> Oh! I've never been so insulted in all my life!
>> Hey! You're kinda cute!)

Interjections >> (Well!)
Show excitement, >> (Oh!)
Or emotion. >> (Hey!)
They're generally set apart from a sentence
By an exclamation point,
Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.

So when you're happy >> (Hurray!)
Or sad >> (Aw!)
Or frightened >> (Eeeeeek!)
Or mad >> (Rats!)
Or excited >> (Wow!)
Or glad >> (Hey!)
An interjection starts a sentence right!

The game was tied at seven all, (uh huh)
When Franklin found he had the ball.
He made a connection,
In the other direction,
And the crowd starting shouting out interjections:

>> (Aw! You threw the wrong way!)
>> (Darn! You just lost the game!)
>> (Hurray! I'm for the other team!)

Interjections >> (Aw!)
Show excitement, >> (Darn!)
Or emotion. >> (Hurray!)
They're generally set apart from a sentence
By an exclamation point,
Or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.

So when you're happy >> (Hurray!)
Or sad >> (Aw!)
Or frightened >> (Eeeeeek!)
Or mad >> (Rats!)
Or excited >> (Wow!)
Or glad >> (Hey!)
An interjection starts a sentence right!

Interjections >> (Hey!)
Show excitement, >> (Hey!)
Or emotion. >> (Hey!)
They're generally set apart from a sentence
By an exclamation point
or by a comma when the feeling's not as strong.

Interjections!
Show excitement!
Or emotion!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah!
Hallelujah... yea!!

>> (Darn, that's the end.)

BUSY PREPOSITIONS

Music & Lyrics: Bob Dorough

Sung by:Bob Dorough & Jack Sheldon

Animation: J.J. Sedelmaier Prod.

Like a butterfly
or like a bee
Like an ant
as busy as can be
These little words
we call the Busy P's

>>Prepositions

Nine or ten of them
do most all of the work

>>Of, on, to, with
>>In, from, by
>>For, at, over, across

And many others do their job
which is simply to connect
their noun or pronoun object
to some other word in the sentence
Busy P's
If you please

>>On the top
>>is where you are

(The top relates to where)

>>With a friend
>>You'll travel far

(With a friend you'll go)

>>If you try
>>you know that you can fly
>>over the rainbow

(Over the rainbow)
(is where you can fly)

Busy prepositions
always on the go
like a bunch of busy bees
floating pollen on the breeze
buzzing over the meadow
beyond the forest
through the trees
into the beehive
busy, busy P's

>>Into, beyond, over, on, through

Busy prepositions
always out in front
on the edges
in the crack
around the corner
from the back
in between the action
stating clearly
to your satisfaction
the location and direction
preposition gives specific information

>>Though little words they are
>>They never stand alone

Gathering words behind them
you soon will see
how they have grown
into a parade
a prepositional phrase
with a noun
or at least a pronoun
bringing up the rear
a little phrase of two,
or three, or four, or more words

>>Prepositions, Attention!
>>Forward March!!

Busy prepositions
always on the march
like a hoard of soldier ants
inching bravely forward
on the slimmest chance
that they might better their position
Busy, busy prepositions

>>in the air
>>on the ground
>>everywhere

The sun
sank lower
in the West
in the West
it sank

>>and it will rise
>>in the morning
>>and will bring the light of day

We say the sun
comes up in the East
everyday

>>In the East
>>it rises

Busy prepositions
Busy, busy, busy

>>On the top
>>is where you are

On the top

>>If you try
>>you know that you can fly

Fly where

>>Over the rainbow

THE TALE OF MR. MORTON

Music & lyrics: Lynn Ahrens

Sung by: Jack Sheldon

Animation: J.J. Sedelmaier Prod.

This is the tale
of Mr. Morton
Mr. Morton is who
He is the subject
of our tale
and the predicate tells
what Mr. Morton must do.

Mr. Morton walked down the street
Mr. Morton walked
Mr. Morton talked to his cat
Mr. Morton talked

(Hello Cat. You look good.)

Mr. Morton was lonely
Mr. Morton was
Mr. Morton is the subject of the sentence
and what the predicate says he does.

Mr. Morton knew just one girl
Mr. Morton knew
Mr. Morton grew flowers for Pearl
Mr. Morton grew
Mr. Morton was very shy
Mr. Morton was
Mr. Morton is the subject of the sentence
and what the predicate says he does.

The subject is a noun
and that's a person, place, or thing
It's who or what
the sentence is about
And the predicate
is the verb
That's the action word
that gets the subject
up and out.

Mr. Morton wrote Pearl a poem
Mr. Morton wrote
Pearl replied in the afternoon
Pearl replied by a note
Mr. Morton was very nervous
Mr. Morton was
Mr. Morton is the subject of the sentence
and what the predicate says he does.

The cat stretched
the sun beat down
a neighbor chased his kid
(Come here, kid. Come on.)
Each sentence is completed
when you know
what the subject did

Mr. Morton knocked on her door
Mr. Morton knocked
Mr. Morton sat on her porch
Yes, he just sat there and rocked
Mr. Morton was a nervous man
When she opened up the door
he ran

Mr. Morton climbed his stairs
Mr. Morton climbed
Mr. Morton rhymed pretty words
Mr. Morton rhymed
Mr. Morton was lonely
Mr. Morton was
until Pearl showed up
with a single rose
who says women
can't propose

Now, Mr. Morton is happy
and Pearl and the Cat are too
They're the subject of the sentence
and what the predicate says they do.

Guide to Grammar and Writing
Principles of Composition