How progressive – your toddler's using grammar while talking!

Talking about toddlers and grammar in the same sentence might conjure up the old adage of running before you can walk. But, believe it or not, very soon your toddler will be getting to grips with the 'present progressive tense' (and yes, grammatical terms usually have a knack for sounding more complicated than they are!) 

Why does grammar matter? 

Without delving into things like the correct use of apostrophes, on a day-to-day level, grammar helps us think about how to express ourselves. It’s a key part of language and understanding, and helps us to structure sentences clearly to share our ideas with others, which is so important to your toddler who is starting to really refine their communication skills. 

Your toddler’s understanding of grammar begins a long time before they start school.  

Language development actually began before they were born; they listened to the voices around them while in utero and started to recognise voices and patterns of words.  

Thanks to all this listening, your toddler's already heard a great deal of words, and many will have sparked their interest. 

They are now starting to connect these words with meaning and are becoming more skillful at using them while talking. 

They are beginning to use the present progressive tense – but what is that?   

This term is used to describe verbs/actions that are happening at that time, like, ‘running,’ ‘jumping,’ or ‘spinning.’ So, for example, ‘Rahim is riding his bike’. 

Children learn words that they hear a lot and also ones that interest them. So, if a family member enjoys going for a walk, or perhaps an open water swim, then “walking,” and “swimming” may be some of the first present progressive tense words your toddler says. 

Your toddler is likely to use present progressive tenses when talking about actions and activities, as these are the words they'll hear most in daily life.  

How do they know that run becomes running? 

Here’s another term for you: “inflection.”  

Inflection means adding items to the base form of a word to slightly change its grammatical meaning.  

So, jump could have the following inflections added to the end of the word to slightly alter the meaning: -ed, -ing and -s. 

Psychologist, Roger Brown, studied language acquisition in the 1970s and his research still holds strong today. Brown placed the learning of the inflection, “ing” as the first grammatical structure children grasp after learning first words.^[1]  

How you can support your toddler's grasp of grammar 

Using correct grammar with your toddler will help them learn to communicate clearly and form relationships. When it comes to supporting their learning of the present progressive tense, simply talking about different activities and having conversations about things like the weather or how transport is moving will really boost their language journey.  

But, as we know, there's a lot to learn and it will take time and practice to master. As adults, most of us are still learning every day, too (fronted adverbials? We'll say no more!). 

Reference: 

[1] Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press.