Schoolhouse Rock: A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing
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I learned more English from Sesame Street and Schoolhouse Rock than I did from my elementary school teachers back in the early 1970s.
If you want to learn English, I suggest watching Sesame Street and Schoolhouse Rock, even if you are an adult. You’re never too old to learn lessons in an easy way.
It’s always easiest to learn something difficult by singing along to songs that teach the subject in a fun, painless way. In the Schoolhouse Rock animation short film called “A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing” the little girl explains what a noun is.
Watch and sing along with the lyrics provided below:
Well every person you can know,
And every place that you can go,
And anything 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.
When I saw some bandits chasin’ the train.
I was wishin’ 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 anything 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),
You know they’re nouns. You know they’re nouns.
Oh, I took a ferry to the Statue of Liberty.
My best friend was waitin’ 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),
You know they’re nouns. You know they’re nouns.
Oh, I put a dime in the drugstore record machine.
Oldies goldies started playing if you know what I mean.
I heard Chubby Checker, he was doin’ the twist,
And The Beatles and The Monkees, it goes like this!
Yeah, 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),
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.
CONCLUSION
In parts of speech, the subject of the sentence that is doing or being something is the noun. Here are some examples:
Karen sleeps a lot. “Karen” is the noun. She is doing the action of sleeping.
Tara is sleepy. “Tara” is the noun. Being tired is her current condition.
Hawaii relaxes me. “Hawaii” is the noun. It is doing the action of relaxing me.
New York is exciting. “New York” is the noun. Being exciting is its current condition.
The tree shades us. “Tree” is the noun. It is doing the action of shading us.
This apple is delicious. “Apple” is the noun. Being delicious is its current condition.
Happiness grows. “Happiness” is the noun. It is doing the action of growing.
Wisdom is wonderful! “Wisdom” is the noun. Being wonderful is its current condition.
The doing or being something is the part of speech called the verb. See “Schoolhouse Rock: Verb–That’s What’s Happenin’.”
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