Let’s learn about this sentence!

Here is the sentence: the hen pecks, and the chicks PEEP.

1. Saying it out loud

Say it with me: “The hen pecks, and the chicks peep.” The hen makes a pecking action with her beak. The baby chicks make little sounds — they "peep."

2. Words that tell action — verbs

Action words are called verbs. In this sentence:

• pecks is a verb for the hen. The hen is one bird, so we add an -s (pecks).
• peep is the sound chicks make. The chicks are many, so the verb stays peep (no -s).

3. Animal sounds

Some words copy animal sounds — we call them onomatopoeia. Peep is the tiny sound baby chicks make.

4. Capitals and punctuation

• Every sentence should start with a capital letter. So the should be The.
• The sentence ends with a period (.) because it is a statement.
• Writing PEEP in all capital letters can look like shouting. We usually write it peep.

Correct way to write it

The hen pecks, and the chicks peep.

Fun things to do

1. Say the sentence and do the actions: pretend to peck like a hen, then clap softly for chick peep sounds.
2. Draw a hen and some chicks and write the corrected sentence under your picture.
3. Can you make new sentences? Try: “The dog barks, and the puppies yip.”

Great job! Want to try writing or saying more animal sentences together?