Here’s to the Future: Your Child’s Grammar Is Becoming More Complex

Here’s to the Future: Your Child’s Grammar Is Becoming More Complex


As your child approaches age five, his grammar is becoming more and more correct and complex. Irregular plurals and regular past tense are used, as are passive sentences (e.g. “The fish was fed this morning”) and the words “if” and “so.”  Also, in addition to understanding the meaning of future-focused words like “tomorrow” and “next week,” your child is using the future tense to express things that will happen in the future. You might hear him say, “What will we do at Grandma’s house tomorrow?” or “It’s hot in the summer, so we’ll be able to go swimming a lot!” Keep on modeling proper, complex grammar and vocabulary, and your child will continue to move towards more adult speech.

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Play Tips:

How can you support your child’s development of this Expressive Language skill at this age? It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

  1. Use the future tense in conversations. It’s very easy to bring the future tense into talks with your child. You may want to start the morning by talking about what you’ll be doing later in the day, later in the week, or on the weekend. If it’s summer, you can talk about things that you will do in the winter, or vice versa.
  2. Talk about grammar. Preschoolers are not too young to be introduced to the idea of nouns (e.g. people, places, and things), verbs (e.g. actions and states of being), and adjectives (e.g. descriptive words). To define verbs, tell your child that they are words that describe what you are doing (e.g. playing or sleeping) or being (e.g. being happy or being a boy). After you give your child a few examples, see if he can think of other verbs or demonstrate them for you.
  3. Play a verb game. Simon Says is a great game for trying out different verbs. Start out by being Simon and giving commands to your child (e.g. “Simon says, ‘Hop on one foot.'”). Once your child gets the hang of it, let him be Simon. You can also create a “verb cup” by writing down a bunch of different verbs on popsicle sticks and keeping them in a cup. Ask your child to pick one at different points throughout the day, particularly at transitions, and encourage him to act it out. Be sure to have fun things in there and transition times may go a lot easier!

(Playful Bee is launching our new DIY Preschool from Birth program! Click here to enroll.)

Developmental Milestones:

Has your baby achieved the following Expressive Language developmental milestones yet? If yes, check off all the skill(s) he has already mastered to date using Playful Bee’s developmental milestones tracker. It’s absolutely FREE and easy to use, just click HERE!

  • Uses future tense (e.g. “We will go to the park soon.”).
  • Tells longer story using full sentences.

Playful Bee

Education Team at Playful Bee
Playful Bee is an e-Preschool that delivers inquiry-based preschool learning from the classroom to your home. Our preschool curriculum was created by our talented team of rock star teachers. With years of hands-on preschool and Kindergarten teaching experience, they've developed a high-quality preschool experience that is convenient-to-use and easy-to-teach by you, grandparents, or your nanny at home.

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