Robyn Kozierok
November 20th 03, 05:34 PM
To:
Subject: CTTS: Toddler pronoun use and counting
Like many toddlers, my 2.5yo has some confusion over the use of
pronouns. He started out referring to himself exclusively as
"you", but he now uses a combination of "I", "you" and "we"
(perhaps he thinks he's royalty) in very consistent contexts.
Usually, when he is the subject of the sentence, he uses "I",
particularly when the sentences begin with "I like..." or
"I want..."
Conversely, he uses "we" to begin sentences about things he
*doesn't* like ("We don't like baths.") or when indicating
how many of something he has ("We have two cookies." -- it's
not like he's actually thinking he'll be sharing them or
anything).
Finally, he still uses "you" when he is the object of the sentence
("Mommy hold you."), and uses "your" to indicate posession ("Where's
your blankie?"). He also uses "the" for possession when it comes to
body parts. He complains about a boo-boo by saying, for example,
"uh, oh! the toe!"
We also find his counting, as influenced by the written representations
of the numbers, somewhat amusing. He gets to ten without incident,
then continues with : ugleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, five-teen,
sixteen seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-zero! (It's so logical,
and endearing, that I hate to say anything.) ;-)
--Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)
Subject: CTTS: Toddler pronoun use and counting
Like many toddlers, my 2.5yo has some confusion over the use of
pronouns. He started out referring to himself exclusively as
"you", but he now uses a combination of "I", "you" and "we"
(perhaps he thinks he's royalty) in very consistent contexts.
Usually, when he is the subject of the sentence, he uses "I",
particularly when the sentences begin with "I like..." or
"I want..."
Conversely, he uses "we" to begin sentences about things he
*doesn't* like ("We don't like baths.") or when indicating
how many of something he has ("We have two cookies." -- it's
not like he's actually thinking he'll be sharing them or
anything).
Finally, he still uses "you" when he is the object of the sentence
("Mommy hold you."), and uses "your" to indicate posession ("Where's
your blankie?"). He also uses "the" for possession when it comes to
body parts. He complains about a boo-boo by saying, for example,
"uh, oh! the toe!"
We also find his counting, as influenced by the written representations
of the numbers, somewhat amusing. He gets to ten without incident,
then continues with : ugleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, five-teen,
sixteen seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty-zero! (It's so logical,
and endearing, that I hate to say anything.) ;-)
--Robyn (mommy to Ryan 9/93 and Matthew 6/96 and Evan 3/01)