EARLY GRAMMAR

 

As a child’s understanding of word endings, word order and structure develops, the child begins to use those elements in spoken language. The development of grammar occurs in stages, as the number of words used increases.

 

Tenses – children begin by using the present tense ‘-ing’ e.g. ‘it going’. By around 4 years of age, they are able to use the past tense, though not always correctly e.g. ‘me falled down’, ‘he wented’. Talking about future events is the most difficult for children to learn and to express grammatically in spoken language.

 

Negatives – children use ‘no’ at an early stage to refuse/reject an object or action. This later develops into the use of the word ‘not’ and later still the shortened version e.g. ‘don’t’, ‘won’t.’

 

Plurals – ‘s’ is used early on in development to mark more than one of something e.g. ‘my cars’, ‘apples’. Remember if the child cannot produce the sound ‘s’ they will not be able to use plurals. Some children will not develop a clear ‘s’ until they are 5 years old.

 

Pronouns – children begin to use early pronouns ‘you’ and ‘me’ at around 3 years of age. They then begin to use other pronouns such as ‘he’, ‘she’ and ‘they’ before developing ‘his’, ‘her’ and ‘their’ at a later stage.

 

Possession – at around the age of 3 – 4 years, children begin to use ‘s’ to show possession e.g. ‘mummy’s hat’, ‘daddy’s book’.

 

Question words – by age 3½ children are using ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘who’ questions routinely. Later they begin to use ‘when’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ to question. By 4 years of age, sentences are becoming grammatically correct most of the time. For further information on question forms, please see ‘understanding reasoning and thinking’ in the ‘understanding’ section.

 

Activities to develop early grammar

PAST AND FUTURE TENSES

To use the past tense to describe an action

 

Language: action words ending in ‘ed’ e.g. jumped, painted, looked

• Copy me- perform an action e.g. jump into a hoop and then ask ’What did I do?’ be careful to use a verb that in the past tense has an ‘ed’ form. Repeat this with a variety of actions and ask the children to describe what you have done.
• Simon did- ask the child to copy an action as in ‘Simon Says’, and then ask ‘What happened?’

 

To use the future tense e.g. ‘going to…’

Language: ‘going to.., we will’

• Using a visual timetable encourage the children to say what will happen next in the pre-school/school e.g. ‘We will have a snack.’
• Plan a party for the pre-school/school. Decide what will be needed e.g. ‘We will eat sandwiches.’ ‘We are going to have some crisps.’
• Choosing games such as dressing up. Ask the child to choose clothes to wear ‘I am going to choose the hat.’ This can be extended in other activities e.g. choosing which colour paper they would like to use or which toy they would like.

 

NEGATIVES

To use ‘yes’ and ‘no’ appropriately.

Language: yes; no

• Ask questions occasionally which encourage a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer from the child e.g. ‘Would you like a drink?’ ‘Is this your coat?’
• Play hiding games using children and objects e.g. in a story ask ‘Is this the dog?’ ‘Do you think Michael is behind here?’
• Share story books and ask ‘Can you see …?’ Encourage the children to respond ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ (This is a very early stage of development and most children will not need additional activities.)

 

To use ‘not’ + object/action.

Language: not

• Encourage the child to describe actions during group games e.g. ‘Jonathan is jumping.’ ‘Katie is not jumping.’
• Ask the child to hide an object in the playhouse or around the room/outside. The adults and other children ask questions to help find it e.g. ‘Is it in the sand?’ Child responds ‘Not in the sand’

 

PLURALS

To use simple plurals.

• Respond to children’s requests literally- e.g. when a child asks for his/her shoe lace to be tied, only tie one.
• Organise a toy tea party for dolly, teddy etc. Ask the child what is needed. Encourage them to reply e.g. ‘We need plates, cups’ etc.
• Look at a range of books and talk about how many items or objects are featured in the page. For example, ask the child what they can see in the picture so that they are able to respond ‘There are three frogs’ or ‘There are lots of flowers’.
• Use stories where there is one or more character e.g. Noah’s Ark. Talk about the animals in pairs e.g. two elephants.

 

PRONOUNS

To use simple pronouns e.g. ‘he’, ‘she’, ‘they’.

Language: he; she; they

• Look at a collection of photographs/pictures of boys and girls and encourage the child to describe what is happening e.g. ‘she is swimming’, ‘they are eating.’
• Read a story about a girl or boy or both, emphasising the pronouns e.g. James went to the shops, and Sally – she went to the park. Then ask questions e.g. ‘Where did she go?’ using the pictures as prompts.
• Draw two blank faces with the only clue to girl/boy being their names. Draw or cut out facial features on card and stick them on to the boy/girl. Ask the child to describe the features of the faces e.g. ‘She has blue eyes’, ‘He has black hair.’
• Using boy and girl dolls/puppets carry out simple actions and ask the child what the doll/puppet is doing e.g. ‘He is jumping’, ‘they are sleeping’.

 

POSSESSION

To use possessive pronouns e.g. his, her, their.

Language: his, her, their

• Dress two male and female dolls/puppets in clothes. Take their shoes, coat and hat off and put them in a pile in the middle of the floor. Ask the children to choose a piece of clothing and ask them ‘Whose is it?’ Look at the clothes in more detail. E.g. ‘This is her jumper, her jumper is red’, ‘Their shoes are black.’
• Model phrases such as ‘Put it in her drawer-Sarah’s drawer’ and point to reinforce the instruction.
• Using pictures or dolls, say point to ‘his’ or ‘her’ nose. Ask the child to direct you to point to the boy’s/girl’s body parts e.g. ‘Point to their feet.’
• In a group highlight children with similarities e.g. same colour shoes. Show the group, ‘Their shoes are brown.’ Get them to have a go.

 

QUESTION WORDS

To ask questions involving ‘What?’ ‘Where?’ ‘Who?’

Language: What? Where? Who?

• Give each child an opportunity to be in charge at snack times and encourage them to ask the others what they would like to drink or eat.
• Similarly a child is a waiter in the home corner cafe and is encouraged to ask the other children what they would like to eat and drink.
• Show and tell sessions. Children bring in objects from home and talk about them. Encourage the rest of the group to ask questions about the objects.
• Re-enact familiar stories, encouraging children to join in with simple repetitive phrases e.g. ‘Who is that trip trapping over my bridge?’ ‘Where’s Spot?’
• What’s in the bag? One child knows what object is put in the bag, while the others have to try and work it out, asking questions such as ‘Where is it from?’, ‘Who uses it?’, ‘What is it made of?’

 

JOINING WORDS

These are the words that we use to join two pieces of information together in one sentence.

Language: and, because, then, so, but

• Have a selection of items e.g. pictures/toy foods and model the use of the word ‘and’ e.g. ‘please may I have an apple and some crisps and some chocolate?’ Then ask the child to take a turn, encouraging them to use ‘and’ themselves.
• Play silly games with some ‘why?’ pictures and ask the child ‘why?’ something has happened to encourage them to use the word ‘because’. You can model this for them first.

TOP TIP: You can also use the ‘why/because?’ jigsaw on the Twinkl website.