Welcome to this free A1 English reader! Meet Old MacDonald and his noisy farm animals in this classic song turned into a simple story. On his farm, you'll find a mooing cow, a quacking duck, a oinking pig, and more. Each animal makes its special sound, and Old MacDonald loves them all.
This interactive story helps you learn animal names and sounds in English. Tap any word you don't know to see its meaning instantly, listen to the story audio to improve your pronunciation, and check the easy lesson notes for extra practice. Happy reading and listening!
Old MacDonald has a .
The is and .
He a cow.
"Hello, !" he says. "What do you ?"
The cow , "Moo moo!"
Old MacDonald . "Good cow!" he says. .
He a pig.
"Hello, ! What do you say?"
The pig , "Oink oink!"
"Good pig!" Old MacDonald. .
He a duck.
"Hello, ! What do you say?"
The duck , "Quack quack!"
"Good duck!" Old MacDonald. .
Old MacDonald is .
"All my are !"
The . Old MacDonald .
Goodnight, ! .
Old MacDonald owns a farm.
The farm is large and bright.
He spots a cow.
He greets the cow and asks what it says.
The cow moos.
He smiles and praises the cow, singing E-I-E-I-O.
He notices a pig.
He greets the pig and asks what it says.
The pig oinks.
He praises the pig, singing E-I-E-I-O.
He sees a duck.
He greets the duck and asks what it says.
The duck quacks.
He praises the duck, singing E-I-E-I-O.
He feels happy.
He thinks all his animals are great.
At sunset, he goes home.
He says goodnight to the farm, singing E-I-E-I-O.
In the story, Old MacDonald meets three animals on the farm. Let's learn their names and the fun sounds they make!
- cow → "moo"
- pig → "oink"
- duck → "quack"
The story uses the simple present tense to talk about Old MacDonald's world. Verbs change a little when we talk about one person or thing (he, she, it). Look at these examples from the story: Old MacDonald has a farm. He sees a cow. The sun goes down. The verbs end in -s.
- I have → he has
- I see → he sees
- I say → he says
- I go → he goes
You can use these animal names and sounds in the classic song "Old MacDonald Had a Farm." Try adding more animals-maybe a horse, a sheep, or a chicken. Keep practising, and you'll remember the words and verbs easily!
- Sing the song with friends or family.
- Add new animals: horse (neigh), sheep (baa), chicken (cluck).
Old MacDonald Had a Farm comes from the English / traditional verse tradition and is best known as a nursery rhyme/song text. This Yak Yacker article is an original learner retelling based on Traditional; public domain versions, so the wording here is simplified for modern learners rather than copied from one old edition.
Older printings, translations, and retellings of this story can vary quite a bit. The original audience was usually kids, but this version is adapted for A1 Beginner learners studying English. Good for animal sound series; avoid modern recording arrangements.
If you want to look into the source tradition, start with Wikisource.
If you want to keep going, browse more in our English section and review the A1 English Vocabulary List. After that, try English Question Words for another useful next step.
