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Unpack Your Adjectives

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Schoolhouse Rock, Lyrics and Music: George Newall

Came 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 one is 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 about it with adjectives.
You can shout it with adjectives.

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or the words "Non-NIEHS Link", it means that by following that link you will be leaving the NIEHS website. NIEHS is NOT responsible for non-NIEHS websites. Sites maintained by outside organizations may be changed without notice to NIEHS. Therefore, unless the link is to another U.S. government sponsored webpage, endorsement by NIEHS is not implied, and NIEHS does not guarantee their continuing safe content or privacy policies. So please ask your parent or guardian before continuing to any non-NIEHS website, and especially before providing any information via the internet or by e-mail. When last reviewed, the websites linked from the NIEHS Kids' Pages seemed suitable for you to visit, but that may have changed; if you have any difficulties or concerns with any linked materials, please let us know.