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Clearer sentences

How to say your child's sentence back the usual way, without asking them to copy you.

This guide is about the way words go together in a sentence, like "I want" in place of "me want". In the ideas below, you say your child's sentence back the usual way.

They fit into play, jobs around the house and trips out. You can use the same ideas in any language.

When children learn this

  • Health checklists say that by 2 and a half, most children use words like I, me and we.
  • Health checklists use 'most children' to mean at least 3 in 4 children. If your child is not doing a 'most children' skill by the age given, see your GP or child health nurse for advice.
  • Between 3 and 4, many children start to use I, you and me the usual way.
  • Children typically say and understand more complex sentences by about 5.
  • Children learn language skills at different ages.

Try this

While you play

Play shops with toy food. Your child is the shopkeeper and a teddy is the shopper.

  • Your child: Her want banana.
  • You: She wants a banana. Here is a banana for her.

Around the house

Make lunch together. Cut up an apple to share.

  • Your child: Me hungry.
  • You: You are hungry. I am hungry too. I will cut the apple for us.

When you go out

On a walk, a man goes past with a big brown dog.

  • Your child: Him got a dog.
  • You: He has a dog. He has a big brown dog.

Why it helps

  • When you say your child's sentence back the usual way, your child hears how the sentence goes. Your child does not have to copy you.

When to get help

  • Tell the speech pathologist or your GP if your child is 3 or older and is not using 3-word sentences.
  • Tell the speech pathologist or your GP if your child is between 4 and 5 and close family cannot understand more than half of what they say.
  • Tell the speech pathologist or your GP if your child is 4 or older and people who do not know them cannot understand much of what they say.
  • Tell the speech pathologist or your GP if your child is 5 or older and has trouble telling a simple story or what happened, has trouble understanding what they hear or what is read to them, or has a lot of trouble following or remembering spoken instructions.

More help

Sources

© State of New South Wales. For current information go to www.nsw.gov.au. CC BY 4.0.

Last checked 12 October 2026

General information, not medical advice. Talk to a health professional about your child.

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