Use of language is also known as expressive language. It is how your child is learning to:
- say new words
- put them together into sentences
Use of language also includes non-verbal communication like gestures.
Early years development of expressive language
The ages should be treated as a rough guide, as each child is unique and will develop at their own pace.
9 months old
By 9 months old, babies will usually:
- babble
- try to say words, for example “dada”
18 months old
By 18 months old, babies will usually:
- Say more common words
- Sometimes puts two words together such as “all gone” or “bye bye”
2 years old
By 2 years old, a child will usually:
- Know up to 200 words
- Put two and three words together in short sentences – for example, “me go home”
- Use up to 50 words
2.5 years old
By 2.5 years old, a child will usually:
- put three and four word sentences together, for example, “me go in there”
- use different sorts of words
- start to use question words, for example, “what’s that there?”
3 years old
By 3 years old, a child will usually:
- link more than four words together, for example “I want juice and sweets”
- starts to use “and” to link ideas
- starts to use “I”, “he”, “she” words and multiple words like “cats”, “balls”
3.5 years old
By 3.5 years old, a child will usually:
- link ideas together using “cos” (because) – for example “I put wellies on ‘cos it’s raining”
- asks more difficult questions using “why” and “how”
4 years old
By 4 years old, a child will usually:
- use talking for many reasons
- be able to re-tell favourite stories
- be able to play make believe games, for example “you be the mum and I’ll be the baby”
4.5 years old
By 4.5 years old, a child will usually:
- be able to tell others about what is happening