Learning Personal Pronouns in Speech Therapy

Personal pronouns play a vital role in our daily conversations, allowing us to acknowledge ourselves and others. They are particularly significant for children, allowing them to express their wants and needs effectively. For example, a child can use personal pronouns by stating “my turn”, “I want”, and “mine”. By understanding the function of personal pronouns, you can help your child learn and utilize them appropriately for everyday conversations.

Personal pronouns can be grouped into 3 different categories based on their functions in a sentence. One type of pronoun is Subjective. These are used as the main subject in a sentence. They include pronouns such as I, you, she, it, we, and they. Object pronouns include you, him, her, it, us, and them. They refer to the person that is the object of the sentence. Lastly, there are possessive pronouns. These indicate ownership or possession. Examples of possessive pronouns are my/mine, your/yours, its, his, hers, ours, and theirs.

In addition to these categories, personal pronouns also can be categorized based on their perspective. First-person pronouns refer to the speaker. These include pronouns I, me, we, and us. Second-person pronouns are used when addressing someone else, such as you, and yours. Lastly, third-person pronouns refer to someone or something that is outside the conversation. For example, these include he, she, it, they, him, her, and them.

Although the age of acquisition may vary from child to child, listed here are general age milestones for learning personal pronouns:

12-26 months: I, It

27-30 months: My, me, mine, you

31-34 months: Your, she, he, yours, we

35-40 months: They, us, hers, his, them, her

41-46 months: Its, our, him, myself, yourself, ours, their, theirs

47+ months: Herself, himself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves

Sources: Adapted from Haas & Owens (1985); Huxley (1970); Morehead & Ingram (1973); Waterman & Schatz (1982); and Wells (1985)

Understanding and learning pronouns can be challenging for many children. This is because pronouns are abstract. They depend on who the speaker is and who is listening. Also when modeling pronouns, children often heard them the opposite way as they would say it. For example, when they hear “Want me to pick you up?” they may respond, “Pick you up”. It is important to remember that it is normal for children to mix up pronouns when they are first learning a language. You can play a crucial role in helping your child learn and understand pronouns by implementing these strategies at home.

Strategies you can try:

• Model, model, model: Parents often refer to themselves as “mommy” or “daddy” when their child is young. As they grow older, start referring to yourself by name and personal pronouns when communicating with them.

• Expand Utterances: When your child combines two-word utterances such as “want cookie”, repeat the sentence and add the correct personal pronoun such as “I want cookie”.

• Use Gestures: Gestures are a key factor when learning pronouns. When referring to yourself, point to yourself. When referring to your child, point at them for “you”. You can also use gestures when modeling a phrase from your child’s perspective. You can do this by placing their hand on their own chest.

• Over-Exaggerating: Use an excited voice or eager tone while modeling personal pronouns. You can do this by emphasizing “my turn” when you are excited to try. This will help your child pick up on the specific words they should be using.

• Play games: Taking turns while playing with games is a great way to work on personal pronouns. You can encourage your child to use pronouns by asking them “Whose turn is it?”

• Pictures or Books: Try pointing at pictures in a book and model correct phrases using pronouns. Sentences such as “he is sleeping” or “she is eating” are great examples.

• Don’t Correct Mistakes: Learning pronouns is hard! Instead of correcting them, model it back the correct way and continue on with the conversation.

If your child continues to demonstrate difficulty, reach out to a speech-language pathologist. Seedlings Pediatric Therapy provides in-home speech therapy services to families in Minneapolis and surrounding areas. If you are concerned with your child’s speech and language development, contact us today!