AAC Language Lab Home » Stages of Language Development
Language Stage 4
During Stage four, the form of sentences increases to include yes/no questions, and "Wh" questions. The person learns to say common past tense verbs that do not end in "ed", such as "saw", "said", "told", and "went." The concept of actions that happened in the past is developing. Later on, the person will become aware of the grammar rule that most past tense verbs end in -ed, and will attempt to make some irregular past tense verbs end in "ed", such as "comed" and "goed". During stage four the person begins to use possessive endings. Linking verbs that are not in contractions also appear in stage four.
| Approx. Vocab. Size | Utterance Length in Morphemes* | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 to 2,000 words | Range: 3.0 to 3.75 Mean: 3.5 |
I saw bird., Daddy's car, I fell down., It is hot., Where is it?, Don't want. |
*a morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning in a language