One's None, Two's Some Lyrics
One is hardly anything, two is a few, three is lots, and five might as well be a hundred. A tiny counting rhyme that sees numbers the way a child does.
One's None, Two's Some
One's none;
Two's some;
Three's a many;
Four's a penny;
Five is a little hundred.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/ones-none/
- Type
- Counting Rhymes
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 2 to 6 years
What Does One's None, Two's Some Mean?
The rhyme describes how small numbers feel rather than what they are. One on its own feels like none at all. Two is "some", three is "a many", four is worth a penny and five feels like "a little hundred". It is a playful way of talking about more and fewer.
History and Origin
James Orchard Halliwell printed the rhyme among the counting rhymes in The Nursery Rhymes of England. Rhymes like this were used when sharing out sweets or marbles, where one does feel like nothing compared with five.
Learning Activities
- Counting piles: make piles of one to five buttons and say the matching line.
- More or fewer: ask which pile has more, and by how many.
- Keep going: make up lines for six and seven.