What is Grammar?
When we talk about helping children who have speech and language delays with grammar, we are talking about all of those little words and word parts that help us make complete sentences. Without grammar, our sentences would sound choppy or telegraphic. For example, instead of saying “Johnny and I want to play with the ball”, we would just say “Johnny..I…want…play…ball”. The main point of the message is there but it doesn’t flow the way it should. Below are listed different types of grammatical markers with links to how to work on them.
Pronouns
Children with language delays often have difficulty with pronouns. Here is information about when pronouns are typically found in children’s speech. Keep in mind that these are rough estimates and every child is different. Is your child varies from this slightly, there is no need to be alarmed. However, if the child varies significantly, he or she may require some extra help with pronouns.
Age ~~ Pronouns
12-26 mos ~~ I, it
27-30 mos ~~ my, me, mine, you
31-34 mos ~~ your, she, he, yours, we
35-40 mos ~~ they, us, hers, his, them, her
41-46 mos ~~ its, our, him, myself, yourself, ours, their, theirs
47+ mos ~~ herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
Resource from: Linguisystems Milestones Guide
Here are some articles that will help you with teaching pronouns:
5 Steps to Teach the Pronouns “He” and “She”
Funny Faces Grammar Game: Boy and girl faces that you can velcro on to make silly faces. Download and print!
He/She File Folder Game: Another printable file folder game!
Printable Picture Verb Cards: Great for practicing all kinds of grammatical markers, depending on what tense you use
Grammatical Morphemes
Grammatical morphemes are markers that change the meaning of a word. For example, the plural “-s” can be added to a word to indicate that there is more than one of it, such as “bug” to “bugs”. These markers can be word endings (like “-ing”), small words (like “is”), or they can change the word all together, like irregular past tense (like swim to swam). Here are a list of the grammatical morphemes and when they should be mastered by. Again, these are rough estimates so don’t panic if your child is just a bit off.
Age ~~ Morpheme
19-28 mos ~~ Present Progressive “-ing” (ex: swimming)
29-38 mos ~~ Regular Plural “-s” (ex: bags)
Possessive ‘s (Molly’s baby)
Present Tense Auxiliaries (helping verbs like: can, will, be, do)
43-46 mos ~~ Regular Past Tense “-ed” (jumped)
Irregular Past Tense (ran, swam)
Regular third-person-singular, present tense (he drinks, she eats)
Articles (a, the)
47-50 mos ~~ Auxiliaries and copulas in all tenses (helping verbs like “is”, “will”, “does”)
Irregular Third Person Regular Singular (She has it)
Past Tense “be” verb (He was dancing)
Information from: Linguisystems Milestones Guide
Links to Morpheme Articles:
Speech and Language Therapy Guide: Pre-Made Lesson Plans and Data Collection for 39 Different Speech and Language Skills, including Grammar
How to Teach Irregular Plural Nouns
4 Steps to Teaching the Possessive ‘s
4 Steps to Teach Past Tense Verbs
3 Steps to Teaching the Conjunction “and”
How to Teach Present Progressive “-ing”
Free Printable Materials For Grammar Skills
Printable Past Tense Verb Cards
Printable Picture Verb Cards: Great for practicing all kinds of grammatical markers, depending on what tense you use
Printable He Does/She Does Game: Good for practicing verbs like “does” and “has”
How to Get More:
I am constantly updating this site and adding awesome, new resources. Sign up for the mailing list to be notified of new content:
Browse All Grammar Articles:
About the Author: Carrie Clark, MA CCC-SLP
Hi, I’m Carrie! I’m a speech-language pathologist from Columbia, Missouri, USA. I’ve worked with children and teenagers of all ages in schools, preschools, and even my own private practice. I love digging through the research on speech and language topics and breaking it down into step-by-step plans for my followers.
Connect with Me:
