Based on Brown (1973)
Grammatical Morpheme | Example |
---|---|
Present progressive (-ing) | Baby crying. |
in | Juice in cup. |
on | Book on table. |
Plural regular (-s) | Daddy have tools. |
Past irregular | Doggie ate bone. |
Possessive ('s) | Jake's apple. |
Uncontractible copula (used as main verb) | This is mine. |
Articles (a, the) | A red apple.
The big house. |
Past regular (-ed) | He jumped high. |
Third person regular (-s) | Susie drinks. |
Third person irregular | Baby does patty-cake.
Kitty has a toy. |
Uncontractible auxiliary | Are you thirsty?
She was running. He is. (Response to “Who’s crying?”) |
Contractible copula | It's cold outside. |
Contractible auxiliary | Mommy's crying. |
*All grammatical morphemes are typically acquired by about 4 years of age. Brown, R. (1973). A first language: The early stages. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. |