When do toddlers say sentences

Language development in children 2-3 years

Vocabulary and language development in children at 2-3 years

At this age, your child’s vocabulary expands quickly – they might even learn new words each day. In general, your child understands more words than they can use.

Your child will use a lot of nouns – for example, ‘baby’, ‘friend’ or ‘car’. You’ll hear other word types too, including:

• verbs – for example, ‘play’, ‘go’
• adjectives – for example, ‘wet’, ‘sore’
• pronouns – for example, ‘I’, ‘you’
• location words – for example, ‘in’, ‘on’.

Your child will start using words like ‘more’ and ‘most’, as well as words that make questions, like ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’.

And your child will start to say ‘me’, ‘mine’ and ‘you’. By three years, you child will understand the difference between ‘mine’ and ‘yours’.

Sentences and grammar in language development

As part of language development, your child will begin to use two-word sentences at around two years. By age three, they’ll be able to use sentences with three or more words – for example, ‘Mummy get in car’ or ‘Me go too’.

You’ll start to hear grammar and more structured sentences. For example, instead of ‘I go’, your child might say ‘I’m going’. You’ll also hear your child use the past tense – for example, ‘walked’, ‘jumped’. And they’ll start using plurals like ‘cats’ or ‘horses’.

Your child might not always get it right when they use plurals and past tense. For example, your child might say ‘foots’ for ‘feet’, or ‘goed’ instead of ‘went’.

Understanding and language development

Language development includes your child understanding more of what’s said to them and how it’s said. Your child will understand a lot more than they can say.

Your child will understand one-step and two-step instructions, as long as they’re about things they already know – for example, ‘Pick up your toys and put them in the box’. They might still find it hard to follow instructions about unfamiliar objects or tasks.

Your child will begin to answer questions from adults about ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘where’, but they might not yet understand how to answer ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions.

Your child can tell from the tone of your voice if you’re happy, affectionate or angry.

Pronunciation in language development

By three, your child will use most of the speech sounds in their words, but they might still pronounce words differently from adults. For example, even though your child can say the sounds ‘b’ and ‘l’, they might have trouble combining them together in ‘blue’. Some difficult sounds, like ‘z’, ‘sh’, ‘f’, ‘v’, ‘r’, and ‘th’, might still be hard for your child to say.

When your child is two years old, unfamiliar people can usually understand about half of what your child says. By the time your child is three years old, unfamiliar people can usually understand about three-quarters of what they’re saying.

Developing conversation skills

Your child will start to get the hang of speaking in turn, and might be able to have a short conversation with you.

Your child will talk about things that have happened during the day. With your help, they might be able to put together a simple story – for example, your toddler might say ‘I go shop’. You might respond, ‘And what did you do at the shop?’ They’ll reply ‘Buy bread’. By age three, they might be able to tell a simple ‘made-up’ story based on experiences they’ve had, but they’ll probably leave out a lot of detail.

Your child will talk about people and objects not present – for example, ‘Grandma at the shops’, ‘My ball in tree’.

And your child will start talking the same way you or other close adults talk. You might even hear your child say certain things the way you do.

At this age, your toddler might cry less than they used to when they can’t do something or feel frustrated. That’s because your child can use their words to explain the problem and ask for help.

Play and language development

Your child will be able to play and talk by age three. For example, they might give voices to the toys they’re playing with. They’ll also begin to play in groups with other children, sharing toys and taking turns.

You might hear your child playing with language through rhyming, singing and listening to stories. They’ll also talk to themselves and might use a very loud or soft voice when speaking.

Growing up in a bilingual or multilingual family doesn’t affect how early or quickly children learn to use language. Sometimes multilingual or bilingual children mix their languages for a while, but this stops once they understand that they’re using more than one language.

When to get help for language development

If you notice any of the following signs in your child, or you’re worried about your child’s language development, it’s a very good idea to see your child and family health nurse, GP or paediatrician.

Your child:

• isn’t using words to communicate
• is often hard to understand when they’re talking to you, family or friends
• has stopped using a language skill they once had.

Your health professional might refer you to a speech pathologist.

Children learn new skills over time and at different ages. Most children develop skills in the same order, and each new skill they learn builds on the last. Small differences in when children develop skills are usually nothing to worry about.

When do babies start talking? First words, sentences, and more

Babies typically say their first words between 7–12 months of age. But all babies develop at different speeds. Many start talking later than average, and this is rarely a cause for concern.

Below, we explore when babies start talking, how they learn a language, and what could cause delays.

Babies reach language milestones at different rates, and this is completely normal.

On average, they say their first words between 7–12 months of age and are constructing coherent sentences by 2–3 years of age.

Language develops alongside other skills, such as those relating to movement. As a result, many babies say their first words close to when they start walking — at about 12 months.

Learning a verbal language is a complex process. It helps a baby express their needs and can provide crucial insight about the rest of the world.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) offer the following approximate timeline of language development:

• 0–3 months: Babies recognize parental voices and make sounds that express their feelings.
• 4–6 months: They respond to changes in tone, follow sounds with their eyes, and babble.
• 7 months to 1 year: They understand basic words, respond to simple requests, and use their hands to communicate. Toward the end of this period, they may use a few words.
• 1–2 years: Babies understand basic questions, follow stories, and regularly pick up new words. They may also start to put words together to ask questions or express needs.
• 2–3 years: Toddlers start to string phrases together and speak coherently. They can usually refer to most things around them.
• 3–4 years: They can describe activities, use more complex sentences, and speak more fluently.
• 4–5 years: They use detailed sentences, tell stories, and can communicate easily with others.

A person can help encourage the development of language. If a baby is reaching these milestones more slowly, they may benefit from additional support from parents and other caregivers or a speech professional.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association recommend the following ways to help babies and toddlers at different stages:

Birth to 2 years

To help with the development of language skills:

• Respond when the baby laughs and makes faces or sounds.
• Use sounds like “ma” and “da.”
• Speak to them.
• Narrate the world around them, such as by counting or describing the colors of objects.
• Read to the baby.
• Use gestures, such as pointing.

2–4 years

A person should:

• Speak clearly, with good grammar, to the toddler.
• Repeat what they say back to them.
• Extend their words into sentences.
• Help them ask questions.
• Ask them to choose from a few options, such as by asking what they would like for dinner.
• Sing songs and nursery rhymes.
• Present pictures or objects and ask questions about them.

4–6 years

With a child in this age range, a person should:

• Praise their speech.
• Work on locations, such as by asking them to “Pick up the toy in the middle.”
• Describe objects and ask the child to identify them.
• Describe categories, such as barnyard animals, and ask the child for examples.
• Ask them to give directions or describe where something is.
• Take them along on daily activities and discuss these.
• Also, discuss the stages or stories of a game, book, or TV show.

A variety of factors can influence the development of language. In many cases, exercising patience and taking additional steps to support speech development is all that is needed.

In some children, delays in language indicate speech disorders. However, these are relatively uncommon.

In the United States, around 5% of children and teens aged 3–17 years have had a speech disorder lasting at least 1 week in the past 12 months. In the same time frame, 3% of kids in this age range have had a language disorder lasting at least a week.

Meanwhile, having a hearing disorder may affect the development of language. In the U.S., 2–3 in every 1,000 children experience hearing problems from birth.

Some signs of a speech, language, or hearing disorder in babies and young children include:

• 0–3 months: The baby may not smile or interact.
• 4–7 months: They may not babble.
• 7–12 months: They rarely make sounds and use no gestures.
• 7 months to 2 years: A baby or toddler may say few words and have trouble understanding others.
• 2–3 years: They may say fewer than 50 words and rarely communicate or play with other children.
• 2.5–3 years: They may have difficulty with the beginning stages of reading and writing.

All babies develop differently — some pick up language right away, while others do not. Some babies start speaking early but take longer than expected to use coherent sentences.

In most cases, delays in language development do not indicate a disorder. But some babies and young children need additional support and activities that encourage speech.

Less often, a speech, language, or hearing disorder is involved, and the signs may be present from an early age. It is important to bring these up with a healthcare professional.

It is also important to attend all recommended pediatrician appointments, and the doctor should discuss the child’s development at each. Use the opportunity to ask questions and raise any concerns.

Health experts offer rough timelines about when babies, on average, reach milestones such as using their first words. However, all babies develop language at different rates.

Relatively rarely, a disorder is responsible for delayed language development. If a child shows any signs of a speech, language, or hearing disorder, contact a healthcare provider.

Early Childhood Speech Development Calendar

Early childhood is considered a very important period in a child's life.

This is the time of the most rapid and rapid changes in the mental and physical development of the baby, the child takes the first steps, learns to speak, begins to use gestures and other means of communication.

3 weeks - 1 month - there is a cry indicating emotional discomfort, pain or hunger. With physical stress, the child groans, making the sounds "a", "e". nine0003

2 - 3 months : the baby has a cooing, he utters simple sounds - " a", "y", "s ", sometimes in combination with " g ". This is an important stage in the development of speech in young children.

4 - 6 months - makes high melodious sounds, sounds of exclamation, reacts with joyful sounds to the faces of loved ones.

6 - 9 months - babbling, he repeats the same syllables (“ma-ma-ma”, “ba-ba-ba”, “dya-dya-dya”, “gu-gu-gu”).

9 - 11 months - the baby begins to imitate the sounds of adult speech.

11 - 14 months - the first meaningful words "mom", "dad", "woman", "uncle" appear, from 8 to 14 words. Correlates a word with an object

By the age of 2 years there are 100-200 words in the baby's vocabulary. He is already building a sentence of 2-3 words.

By the age of 3 the volume of the dictionary increases to 1000 words by enriching the child's life experience. Simple prepositions appear: in, on, under, for, with, at. The child remembers poems, children's songs. nine0003

By the end of 3 years , most children are able to construct sentences grammatically correctly, conduct dialogues, tell what they have seen and heard.

Important to know:

Do not listen to advice from other parents whose children began to say after 3 years that the child will speak on his own. He will speak, the only question is what kind of speech it will be, its quality.

How to identify the signs of a speech disorder in a child? nine0016