Expected Speech/Language Milestones by Age

 1

ExpectedSpeech/LanguageMilestonesbyAge



Age Syntax Semantics Morphology Pragmatics

3–4

- Averages4‐wordspersentence

- Usesmostlycompletesentences

- Usesmostlynouns,verbsand

personalpronouns

- Usesnegation(e.g.:“Idon’twant

it”)

- Usesclausecoordinatingdevices

(i.e.:and,because)

- Labelsmostthingsinenvironment

- Relatesexperiencesandtellsabout

activitiesinsequentialorder(e.g.:

wewenttothestore.Webought

someapplesandthenwecame

home)

- Understandssomecommon

opposites(little/big,fast/slow)

- Cansingafamiliarsong(twinkle,

twinklelittlestar)

- AnswersquestionssuchasWhic

h

one,whereis,whatdoyouhave

- Understandsagent/action(e.g.tell

mewhatflies,swims,bites)

- By48monthscancomplete

oppositeanalogies(daddyisaboy,

mommyisa______)

- Understandsmostpreschool

children’sstories(by48months)

- Understandsconceptsempty/full,

big/little,more/less,infro

nt/in

back,nextto)

- UsespronounsI,me,you,they,us



- Usesthirdpersonsingular,

presenttense(e.g.,heruns)

- Consistentlyusessimple(regular)

pastandpresentprogressives(is

running)

- Usesis(heishappy),are(weare

happy),andam(Iamhappy)in

sentences

- Usesregularpluralforms

correctly

- Usespossessivemarkers(e.g.:

“Theboy’sclothes”)

- Usescommunicativefunctions

including:

- Requ

esting(canIhavejuice,

whereismommy)

- Protesting(Idon’t’wantthat)

- Greetings

- Roleplaying

- Respondswithstructuressuchas

yes,no,because

- Engagesinconversationforat

least3exchanges

4–5

- Averages5‐6wordspersentence

(e.g.,Ihavethatatmyhouse)

- Understandsandusescomplex

sentences(e.g.,Ihurtmyself

becauseIfelldown)

- Usesfuturetense(e.g.,shewill

gotothestore)

- Usesmostpronounsincluding

possessives

- Cannameitemsinacategory(e.g.,

food,animals)

- Useswhyandhowquestions

- Answerswimplewhenquestions

(e.g.,whendoyousleep)

- Candefinecommonwords(e.g.,

whatisahat)

- Identifyobjectbyuseandfunction

(e.g.whatdoyoucu

twith)

- Asksmeaningofwords

- Cangivewholename

- Usesmorphologicalmarkersfor

plurals(shoes),possessives

(mommy’s)adtensemarkers

(jumped,jumping,jumps)

- Usescomparatives(big,bigger,

biggest)

- Usesirregularpluralsfairly

consistently(mice,teeth)

- Modifiesspeechasafunctionof

listenerage

- Maintaintopicoversuccessive

utterancesformorethan3turns

 2



Age Syntax Semantics Morphology Pragmatics

4‐5



Averages6wordspersentence

Speaksincompletesentencesby5

Canusefuturetense(e.g.,“Shewill 

gotothestore”)

Canuseif,soinsentences



Usesconcretemeaningsandwords,

butrespondstosomeabstract

ideasappropriately

Canpointtocategoricalitems(e.g.,

pointtoallthefruit)

Canname3‐4itemsinacategory(e.g.,

food,animals).

Canusemostpronouns,including

possessives(e.g.,mine,his,her)

Canusewhyandhowforan

explanation

Canusewhatdo/didinqu

estions

Answerssimple“when”questionslike

“whendoyousleep)

Retellssimple,3‐sequncestories

Cangivefirstandlastname

Canidentify10commonwordsbyuse

and/orfunction(e.g.,ifdirected,

“Showmewhattellstime,”“Show

mewhichonegivesusmilk)

Candefine10commonwordsby

function



Usescomparatives(e.g.,bigger,

nicer,taller)

Canusecould,wouldinsentences

Usesregularpluralswithgeneral

consistency



Canmaintaintopicoftheir

choosingoversuccessive

utterances

Oftenusesegocentricmonologue

(thismonologuedoesnot

communicateinformationto

thelistener)

Beginstotelljokesandriddles

(around5years)

 3



Age Syntax Semantics Morphology Pragmatics

5–6

Canusepresent,pastandfuture

tense

Usestheconjunction‘and’tostring 

wordstogether(e.g.,“Abearand

awolfandafox”)

Canuseauxiliaryhavecorrectlyat

times(e.g.,‘Ihavethecookie’)



Followsnoveldirectionscontaining

spatialrelationsandprepositions

suchasontop,behind,far,near

(e.g.,“standbehindthechair”)

Candistinguishalike,same,different

Cangivenmostofaddress

Identifiesmostcommonopposites

(e.g.,hard‐soft,fat‐thin,high‐low);

understands“oppositeof”(e.g.,

“What’stheoppositeofcold?”)

Candefinesobj

ectsbyuseand

composition(e.g.,“Napkinsare

madeofpaper;youwipeyour

mouthwiththem”)

Cantellstories;retellstalesofpast

andpresentevents

Cananswer“Whathappensif…?”

questions

Understandsconceptssuchas

yesterday‐tomorrow,more‐less,

some‐many,several‐few,most‐

least,before‐after,now‐later(e.g.

,

whathappensafterlunch?)

Canstatesimplesimilaritiesand

differencesofobjectswhen

presentedwithpictures

Comprehendsfirst,last

Cannamepositionofobjects:first,

second,third(emerging)

Cannamedaysoftheweekinorder

Knowsfunctionsofbodyparts

Canidentifysomeindefinite

pronounsincludingany,every,

both,few,many,eachand

othersemerging

Useofirregularpluralsemerging

Canusepossessivesandnegatives

consistently

Usesallpronounsconsistently

Canusesuperlative–est(e.g.,

smartest)

Beginstouseadverbialword

endings(e.g.,‐ly)

Understandshumor,surprise

Canrecognizeasociallyof

fensive

messageandreworditinpolite

formwhencued

Beginstouseandunderstand

formallevelsofaddress(e.g.,

Mr.,Mrs.)

Candifferentiate80%ofthetime

betweenpoliteandimpolite

utterances

Usesexpressionssuchas“thank

you”and“I’msorry”

Oftenaskspermissiontouse

objectsbelongingtoothers

Contributestoadultconve

rsation

withfamiliaradults

 4



Age Syntax Semantics Morphology Pragmatics

6–7

Beginstousecauseandeffect

(e.g.,IfIdomywork,Igeta

sticker)

Usesreflexivepronouns(e.g.,

himself,myself)

Canusepassivevoice

Emerginguseofembedding(e.g.,

“Thegirlwhoboughtthedress

wenttotheparty”)

Canuseadverbialconjunctions

now,then,so

Understandstheseasonsofthe

yearandkno

wswhatyoudoin

each

Distinguishesrightandleftinself,

butnotinothers



Usesmostmorphologicalmarkers

fairlyconsistently(e.g.,Thetwo

boys

walkedtothestore)

Emerginguseofirregular

comparatives(good,better,best)

Continuestoimprovecorrectuse

ofirregularpasttenseandplurals

Beginstoproducegerunds(anoun

formproducedbyadding–ing

toaverbinfinitive,e.g.,fish,

fishing–Fishingwithmydadis

fun)

Acquiresuseofderivatio

nal

morphemes,inwhichverbsare

changedintonouns(e.g.,catch

becomescatcher)

Becomesawareofmistakesin

otherpeople’sspeech

Isapttouseslang(e.g.,“that’s

cool”)

7–8

Canuseconjunctionstoelaborate

onsentencestructure(e.g.,and,

but,or,because)

Makesapredictionaboutstories

Understandinganduseof

figurativelanguageemerging

Usesdetailsindescription(e.g.“I

seeablackcatsittingonthe

roundtable”)

Createsconversationsuggestedby

apicture

Enjoystellingstoriesand

anecdotes

Retel

lsastory,keeping3+events

insequence

Usesmostirregularverbforms,

althoughwithsomemistakesin

irregularpasttense(e.g.,

“yesterdayhebrokedthevase”)

Usessuperlatives(biggest,

prettiest–“thebiggestdogwon

therace”)

Usesadverbsregularly(e.g.,“He

ranquickly”)

Initiatesandmaintains

conversation

abletorole‐play,tota

kethe

listener’spointofview

Determinesandusesappropriate

discoursecodesandstyles(e.g.,

informalwithfriends,formal

withadults)

Usesnonlinguisticandnonverbal

behaviors–posture,gestures–

appropriately

Cansustainatopicwithan

individualsorsmallgroup

throughanumberof

conversationalturns,bu

ttopics

tendtobemoreconcrete

 5



Age Syntax Semantics Morphology Pragmatics

8‐9

Comprehendsandusestelland

promise

Hasgenerallycompletedmostof

syntagmatic‐paradigmaticshift

Beginstointerpretpsychological

statesdescribedwithphysical

terms(cold,blue)but

misinterprets

Uses–ersuffixtomarkinitiatorof

anaction(teacher)

Usesfullpassives(80%ofchildren)



Sustainsconcretetopics

Recognizesnonliteralm

eaningsin

indirectrequests

Beginsconsideringothers’

intentions

Isabletojudgegrammatical

correctnessseparatefrom

semantics

Sustainstopicsthroughseveral

turns

Addressesperceivedsourceof

breakdowninrepair

Producesallelementsofstory

grammar

10‐11

Comprehendsandusesask

Comprehendsbecauseconsistently

Understandsdifferencesbetween

definitely,probably,andpossibly

Createsmuchwithmassnouns

Comprehendsifandthough

Comprehendsinandonusedfor

temporalrelations

Comprehendsmostfamilialterms

Createsabstractdefinitions

Hasallelementsofconventional

adultdefinitions

Understandspsychologicalstates

describedwithphysicalterms

Usespronounstorefertoelements

outsidei

mmediatesentence

Uses–erforinstrument(eraser)

Sustainsabstracttopicsin

conversation





 6



Age Syntax Semantics Phonology/Metlinguistics Pragmatics

11‐12

UnderstandsIF‐Though (e.g.Ifthe

busislate,Iwillbelatefor

school.Ilikeyouthoughmy

motherdoesn’t)

Canexplainrelationshipsbetween

meaningsofmultiplemeaning

words(e.g.Iatethesandwich,

Theacidatethemetal)

Mostcommonidioms understood

(e.g.Don’tcountyourchickens

beforeth

eyhatch)

Metacognitiveskillsemerge(e.g.

definewords,editanother’s

writing)

Understandsjokesandriddles

basedonlexicalambiguity(e.g.

ThegolfersaidduckandIsaid

“where”)

12‐14

Useofperfectaspect(e.g.

have/had+verb)increases(e.g.

Hehadbeentotheparkbefore)

Canexplainmeaningsofproverbsin

context(e.g.Achainisasstrongas

it’smissinglink)

Abstractdictionarydefinitionsgiven

forwords

Knowledgeofstressrules(e.g.

yellowjacketvs.yellowjacket)is

acquired

Understandsjokesandriddles

basedondeepstructure

ambiguity(e.g.Itwasraining

catsanddogsandIsteppedina

poodle)

15‐18

Fulladultrangeofsyntactic

constructionsreached(e.g.all

verbtenses,transitionwords,

adjectivesandadverbs,etc)



Averagevocabularysizeofhigh

schoolgraduateis10,000words

 Languageisusedtomaintainsocial

bonds(e.g.justtalking)



Sources:

Paul,R.,Language Disorders from Infancy through Adolescence: Assessment and Intervention. (3

Ed),. St. Louis: Mosby, 2007.



Roseberry‐McKibbin,C.&HegdeM.N.,AnAdvanced ReviewofSpeech‐LanguagePathology:PreparationforPRAXISandComprehnsiveExamination(2

Ed.),

Austin:Pro‐Ed,2006.

