Animals and Plants Around Me
Primary 2 · English
Animals and Plants Around Me
Lesson 2 of 3
13 min
Let's begin
Keza is walking home from the market in Kigali, holding her mother’s hand.
“Look!” she says. “A cow!”
Her mother smiles. “Yes. But tell me more, Keza. What kind of cow?”
Keza looks again. “It is a big brown cow.” Now her mother can picture it without even turning her head. Today you will learn to say more about everything you see.
Keza sees one goat in the field. She says:
It is a goat.
Now four goats walk out from behind the tree. Now she says:
They are goats.
Two things changed. It is became They are. And the naming word grew an s: goat → goats.
Try two more:
One bird → It is a bird. Six birds → They are birds.
One dog → It is a dog. Three dogs → They are dogs.
A describing word tells us what kind. Here are the ones you need today:
Watch. We start with a cow, and we want to say she is big:
a cow + big → a big cow
The describing word walks in front of the naming word. It never walks behind. We do not say “a cow big”.
Two more:
a dog + small → a small dog
a bird + yellow → a yellow bird
You can use more than one. They line up in this order:
number → size → colour → the thing
Mugisha sees 2 cows. They are big. They are brown. So:
two big brown cows
Put it in a full sentence: They are two big brown cows.
Uwase sees 3 birds. They are small. They are yellow. So:
They are three small yellow birds.
This one catches many children. Look:
three small goats — yes!
three smalls goats — no!
The naming word takes the s (goats). The describing word stays exactly the same. The number word three already told us there are many, so small does not need to say it again.
For one thing we say a: It is a cow. It is a goat. It is a big dog.
But if the next word starts with the sound of a, e, i, o or u, your mouth needs help. So we say an:
It is an elephant. It is an egg. It is an orange bird.
Say “a elephant” out loud. It sticks in your mouth! Say “an elephant”. It runs smoothly. That is why an exists.
When there are many things, a and an go away completely: They are elephants.
Tip
Three little rules, and you can describe anything
1. One → It is. More than one → They are.
2. The describing word walks in front: a big cow, three green bananas.
3. The describing word never grows an s. Only the naming word does.
Say it like a song: “It is one … they are many … and the describing word goes first.”
Say the whole sentence out loud, then tap Show answer to check.
There is one dog. It is small. It is black. Say the whole sentence.
Answer: It is a small black dog.
There are two goats. They are white. Say the whole sentence.
Answer: They are two white goats.
Which one is right: “a big cow” or “a cow big”?
Answer: a big cow. The describing word always walks in front.
Fix this: They are four smalls hens.
Answer: They are four small hens. The word small never grows an s — only hens does.
Fix this: It is a elephant.
Answer: It is an elephant. Elephant starts with the e sound, so we need an.
Ishimwe is looking at five green bananas. Finish it: ___ are five green bananas.
Answer: They. There are many bananas, so we use They are.
What you learned today
Quick check
Which one is right?
