Let’s go sentence by sentence and count the nouns. Remember: a noun is a person, place, thing, or animal.
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Sentence 1: “Mary had a little lamb.”
- Mary → person
✔
- lamb → animal
✔
- “had”, “a”, “little” are not nouns.
→ That’s
2 nouns.
Check box for
2.
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Sentence 2: “Jack and Jill went up the hill.”
- Jack → person
✔
- Jill → person
✔
- hill → place
✔
- “and”, “went”, “up”, “the” are not nouns.
→ That’s
3 nouns.
Check box for
3.
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Sentence 3: “The mouse ran up the clock.”
- mouse → animal
✔
- clock → thing
✔
- “The”, “ran”, “up”, “the” are not nouns.
→ That’s
2 nouns.
Check box for
2.
*(Note: Some might think “clock” is part of a phrase like “grandfather clock,” but here it’s just “the clock” — still one thing.)*
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Sentence 4: “Old MacDonald had a farm.”
- Old MacDonald → person (even though “Old” is an adjective, “MacDonald” is the name — we count the whole as one person)
✔
- farm → place
✔
- “had”, “a” are not nouns.
→ That’s
2 nouns.
Wait — let’s double-check: Is “Old MacDonald” one noun? Yes — it’s a proper name for one person. So:
- Old MacDonald = 1 noun (person)
- farm = 1 noun (place)
Total =
2 nouns
But wait — some teachers might argue that “Old” is separate... No! In grammar, when we say “Old MacDonald,” it’s treated as one unit — like “Mr. Smith.” We don’t split first/last names unless asked to.
So yes —
2 nouns.
BUT — hold on! Let me check again with standard elementary teaching:
In many curricula, they teach that each word that is a person/place/thing counts separately — even if it’s a full name.
Actually — no. “Old MacDonald” is ONE person. You wouldn’t say “Old” is a noun and “MacDonald” is another noun. “Old” is describing MacDonald — so together, it’s one noun phrase referring to one person.
Same with “Mary” — one person.
So in “Old MacDonald had a farm”:
- Old MacDonald → 1 noun (person)
- farm → 1 noun (place)
= 2 nouns.
✔ Confirmed.
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Final Answers:
1. Mary had a little lamb. →
2
2. Jack and Jill went up the hill. →
3
3. The mouse ran up the clock. →
2
4. Old MacDonald had a farm. →
2
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Final Answer:
For "Mary had a little lamb." → Check 2
For "Jack and Jill went up the hill." → Check 3
For "The mouse ran up the clock." → Check 2
For "Old MacDonald had a farm." → Check 2
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of simple noun worksheet.
