Five Little Ducks – English Lyrics

• By: Super Simple Songs

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a new language can be a joyful adventure, and "Five Little Ducks" by Super Simple Songs is a perfect place to start. This charming song introduces simple vocabulary and the concept of counting in a slow, clear, and repetitive way, making it easy for young learners to follow along and sing. The gentle story and happy ending make it a comforting and memorable way to begin your language learning journey.

[English]

Five little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

But only four little ducks came back

1, 2, 3, 4

Four little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

But only three little ducks came back

1, 2, 3

Three little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

But only two little ducks came back

1, 2

Two little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

But only one little duck came back

1

One little duck went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

But none of the five little ducks came back

Sad mother duck went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

And all of the five little ducks came back

Five little ducks went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

And all of the five little ducks came back

Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary	Meanings
duck /dʌk/ A1	noun - a water bird with a flat bill
went /went/ A1	verb - past tense of go
day /deɪ/ A1	noun - a period of 24 hours
hill /hɪl/ A2	noun - a small mountain
far /fɑːr/ A2	adjective - distant
mother /ˈmʌðər/ A1	noun - female parent
said /sed/ A1	verb - past tense of say
came /keɪm/ A1	verb - past tense of come
back /bæk/ A1	adverb - to a previous place
sad /sæd/ A2	adjective - feeling sorrow
none /nʌn/ A2	pronoun - not one
all /ɔːl/ A2	pronoun - everything
quack /kwæk/ A1	verb - the sound a duck makes
little /ˈlɪtl/ A1	adjective - small

Key Grammar Structures

• Five little ducks went out one day

  ➔ Simple Past Tense

  ➔ The verb "went" is in the Simple Past tense, indicating a completed action in the past.

• Over the hill and far away

  ➔ Prepositional Phrase (direction)

  ➔ The phrase starts with the preposition "over" and adds the location "the hill" plus the adverbial phrase "far away".

• Mother duck said, "Quack, quack, quack, quack"

  ➔ Reporting Verb + Direct Speech

  ➔ The verb "said" introduces a quotation; the spoken words are enclosed in quotation marks.

• But only four little ducks came back

  ➔ Contrast Conjunction "but" + Limiting Adverb "only"

  ➔ The conjunction "but" signals a contrast to the previous line, while "only" restricts the number to "four".

• None of the five little ducks came back

  ➔ Negative Quantifier "none of" + Partitive Construction

  ➔ The phrase "none of" negates the entire group "the five little ducks".

• Sad mother duck went out one day

  ➔ Adjective Pre‑modifier before Noun

  ➔ The adjective "Sad" directly modifies the noun "mother duck", forming a single noun phrase.

• And all of the five little ducks came back

  ➔ Quantifier "all of" + Plural Noun

  ➔ The quantifier "all of" refers to the entire group "the five little ducks".

• But only one little duck came back

  ➔ Contrast Conjunction "but" + Limiting Adverb "only" with Singular Noun

  ➔ Here "but" contrasts with the previous expectation, while "only" limits the number to a single "one".